


Looking Glass

by SoulBurst470



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Child Murder, Dimension Travel, F/F, F/M, Imaginary Friends, Looking Glass AU, Murder, No age difference sex, Obsessive Behavior, Past Lives, Spoiled Oc, Time Skips, Time Travel, Yandere Son Goku, au no one asked for, evil Son Goku, oblivious OC, well until she 21 anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:08:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23485075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoulBurst470/pseuds/SoulBurst470
Summary: The mirror on the wall that answers my call's, talks back to me and more.. Now that I'm older and realize back then and see that you were reaching for me. Man in the mirror... your looks so handsome, innocent and pure but your desire for me is depraved and undisclosed. Sadly for me and lucky for you ...I had already fallen into your trap of the looking glass...Son Goku
Relationships: Son Goku/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	1. Glass

Tears ran down her cheeks as she held her head down in shame. Her eye's refused to look up from the floor in front of her, as her older brother glared down at her. The raven-haired girl had broken the glass mirror inside one of the unused guest rooms, having no business being there as the room was forbidden for any of her siblings especially from her.

The small pint-size child had mischievously found herself in the room. With her parent's away for a while for a trip of grocery shopping, her brother Kingston was in charge of the house. His is the oldest out of the three children he was always in charge. She found it fun to terrorize her brother whenever he had the authority in the house, he was easily annoyed and could never catch her cause her small size.

She had played a 'nice' game of Hiding and seeks with Kingston, as he searched frantically. The raven head girl sneak off upstairs climbing over the kiddie gate her parents had set around the house to 'prevent ' her to wonder to place's she wasn't allowed to go to. With her five year old curiosity, the little girl found herself in the room. The room contained older furniture, dusty curtains, and a mirror embedded in the only brick wall in the room. The size of two doors combined with a frame that was painted gold, the paint flaking and peeling off from old age. It too was covered in dust as the room was. The room gave off a creepy vibe to her older siblings keeping them away but not her. She found it interesting and fun.

Whilst the youngster was by herself, she had managed to crack and shatter that very mirror. Tripping over a hidden cored to an old abandon metal lamp causing it to fall over and knock into the mirror.

Having heard the sound of her scream and the mirror shatter from down stair's Kingston stormed up the stairs. Upon seeing the damage that was done in the room, his worried face was soon redirected with anger. Kingston scolded as he dragged his sister by the arm down the stairs.

She hiccuped a sob, her lip trembling she knew she was in trouble.

"Damn it Pepper!" he cursed running his hand through his short blond hair.

"I-I didn't mean it King...It was an accident I swear!" she cried out.

"You think dad is gonna give a shit about that!? Pep you know as well as I do that the upstairs is off-limits for you." he growled causing the girl to flinch at his voice.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered only causing the teen scowl.

"I don't wanna hear it. Your whiny sorry's don't mean nothing at all to me right now, I know you don't even mean them." Why was big brother so mean at times? She knew that he could be caring and joyful but would flip like a switch whenever he got angry.

With that Pepper let her tears run down her puffy cheeks staying silent at her brother's harsh words. He would always call her apologies empty whenever he was upset.

"You're going outside and you're staying out there until Mom and Dad get back." he announced grabbing a hold of her arm. Her raven eyes widen at his sudden claim, "B-But Ki-"

"No but's, I don't care if it's hot outside!" Kingston's grip tightens around her tiny forearm, she grimaced in between sobs.

"Pweas King!" she cried to no avail, her brother was too livid with her to listen to her pleas. Kingston pulled his little sister through their spacious house to the back door. The raven haired girl dug her heels in front of herself to stop herself from going outside. The older sibling growled at Pepper's attempts.

"Pepper stop."

The small girl's sobbing face formed a scowl on her tiny facial feature." N-No." It was scorching hot outside, the summer heat was deadly this time of year. Her father and mother had kept her locked up inside the house because of it. She would take any punishment from Kingston knowing he was only allowed to do so much with her, but she would not go outside to face that heat. At a small age she didn't know the dangers of heat but only knew hot did not feel good.

Kingston tugged at her arm again hoping that she would budge but frowned when tiny brunette kept her ground. "Pepper I'm warning you." he warned exasperatedly. Her little resistances wasn't a struggle to his hold on her, he just wanted the brat to stop rebelling for once. She was a stubborn girl that was for sure, always testing his patience more than his other younger sibling. Neither he nor his other sister was this troublesome at this age. Simple time outs didn't Faze Pepper.

"No." She said firmly, pushing back against his hold only to make him grip on her wrists even tighter.

Growling he grabbed her other wrist with his other free hand, "Fine." He lifted the girl by her wrist up to his eye level glaring at her ebony orbs. Now with her tiny feet way up above from the floor, he could continue walking her to the back door.

"I'm sorry! Pwease King I didn't mean it!" she cried, kicking her small feet wildly hoping to break free. Kingston ducked his head as a small foot came towards him barely missing it.

"Grr Pep stop moving!" he yelled at her, taking both his arms and shaking the girl. This only made it worst for the girl as Kingston reached for the door. "Pwease! I don't wanna! I don't wanna! " she cried in anger at her brother.

"No!" his voice snapped shutting the girl up. Taking a deep breath he set the toddler down in between the doorway forcing her tiny arm's to her side. Tear's flowed down her redden cheeks as she glared angrily at her brother.

Kingston pinched the bridge of his nose taking a deep breath, this was not how he wanted to spend his weekend.

"Your staying in the backyard and that's final."

"But big b-butter I do-" she starred but was cut off by Kingston.

"Brother. It's Big Bro-th-er. Pep say it right." he corrected her irritably taking a step forwards causing her to step back into the backyard.

"I'm sorry K-King..." her lip began to quiver at her last attempt to get her brother to let her inside. He knelt to her level sighing, lifting her face up gently to face his. Her raven eyes glistened with hope as he done this notion. Maybe he was going to let her stay inside?

He noticed her eye's brighten, "Sweetie I think you're confused..." he told her softly, confusing the small girl, "You think your sorry because you've done a bad thing, you knew it was a bad thing when you hid and ran upstairs making me worried but you did those things anyway. Pepper your just sorry because you got caught doing those things, am i right." he stated more as a fact than a question. His lips couldn't help but let a bitter smirk show, knowing his baby sister wouldn't know how to answer to that, watching her eyes downcast defeated.

"Ahh I thought so." with that Kingston stood up and promptly closed the back door.

Pepper choked back a sob walking away from the sound of the door locking. Her brother could be so cruel. Wiping the tears from her sobbing face the ravened haired youngster walked to the open backyard much to her dislike of the heat that was beating down on her. Pepper trotted over to the tree in their back yard for some shade.

She sat at the base of the tree where the roots were sprouting out from the ground. Huddling her tiny from in between the large roots hugging her knees up to her chest. Soft hiccups escape her mouth as warm tears rolled down her face.

She could just imagine what her daddy would when he got home and seen what she had done. The disappointing frown and scolding from her mother would give her. Pepper shudder at the thought of getting the paddle.

Pepper wasn't sure why but she could tell that her family treated her differently compared to her kids her age. Their families babied and coped children her age, then again Pepper was little more mature than usual five years old. She understood the concept of rules quite well, which often left her family to forget that she was the youngest of the family.

She could see Kingston's blue eye's piercing through one of the windows; she returned the gesture by raising her small hand giving him the birdie. Her brother rolled his eye from inside and closed the curtain.

"Meanie..." she growled wiping her wet face. She placed her hands into the pockets of her pink overalls. Pepper turned her attention to the sandbox that was at reach under the shaded tree. She needed something to do until her parent and her big sister came back. The sandbox seemed like a good distraction for now. Hopefully, the sand was cool and not hot like the heat around her. Sniffling as she walked over to the sandbox, her raven eyes caught a small glimmer of light with the sand.

"What is that?" She said out loud getting closer to the shimmer of light coming from the sandbox. Picking up the pace Pepper began to move around the sand to uncover the light inside. Digging deeper within the sand causing small particles to fly into her thick curly hair.

Once she was able to grab ahold of the object, she pulled the mysterious object with all of her toddlers straight causing herself to fall over when it plopped out the sand.

"OOF!" she grunted falling over to her backside, she hissed a bit sitting back up, shaking off the pain. Her big ebony eyes widen awe at the object in her hands. It looked to be a large shard of glass with an opal-like refection. Pepper held the shard in in her hands, her eye glistening in astonishment. "OH this is cool!" Pepper ran her little fingers across the smooth surface of the shard, it glowed magically. She knew instantly that this was magical, like a unicorn, or a fairy.

A toothy grin pricked on the corner of her lips, an idea coming to mind as she starred at the shard.

 _I can fix the mirror with this! It's magic, magic can fix anything!_ The shard looked like the very piece of glass that fell from its structure too. Yep it was a perfect plan to get her out of the pickle she was in. The raven haired girl had innocently mistaken the broken shard for magic.

The five-year old let out a mischievous giggle as she glanced at the house. All she had to do was find a way back inside the house before her mama and daddy came back. Pepper stuffed the shard into the oversized front pocket of her pink overalls, securing the safety of the glass piece.

Trotting back over to the house, she began looking for her brother in any of the windows. With no sign of her big brother, Pepper crawled into one of the many doggie doors that were attached to the house. With her being so small, even the smallest of crooks were like hidden pathways through her home.

She crawled through with ease, entering the kitchen to the house. She wisely enough picked the door that was far from the part of the house where Kingston was. Pepper crouched low to the ground as she made her way to the foot of the stairs. She could hear the sound of her brother watching T.V. and her parent's car pulling up into the drive way.

The tiny hairs on the back of neck stood up upon hearing the car, quickly her small legs dashed up the stairs. She nearly slipped on the steps, rushing to the room with the broken glass. Pepper slipped into the old guest room closing the door behind her quickly but carefully. She didn't want to draw attention to herself as much as she had already with Kingston.

The small girl walked over to the shattered mirror looking over the damage hurriedly. The mirror was cracked but only on a piece of shatter glass fell off. The missing price was just the right amount of space for the girl. "All i have to do is put that there, then i won't get the paddle," she whispered to herself.

She pulled out the opal piece of glass from her pocket, carefully placing it into the open spot. She then stepped back from the mirror waiting for the magic to happen, for the damage to be undone. She frowned as she waited for the mirror to fixed again; it was supposed to flick her problems as it did for princesses. It wasn't working, her plan wasn't working!

The little girl dropped to her knees in front of the mirror, Pepper bowed her head as she placed her hands together. "Pwease, fix mister mirror. I didn't mean to hurt you, I was only playing hide n seek with King... Pwease...get better..." she prayed with her eyes shut tightly.

While she prayed with her eye's closed Pepper failed to witness the mirror slowly fixing itself, the shard had begun to liquefy and coat the cracks into a new fully formed mirror. It glimmered magically whenever the whole structure was done rebuilding itself; the dust in one motion flew off the mirror.

Her nose and eyes scrunched up as some dust swiped past her, causing her to sneeze. She whipped the dust way from her small nose while opening her eyes to the newly formed mirror.

Her eyes glistened in amazement, the glass was magical. "It worked!" she exclaimed. She ran her finger over the glass mirror gently; afraid she might break the glass again.

"See Mister mirror I told you," she whispered as she looked at her refection. The glass was shinny and smoother than before. Yep is it was magic.

"H-Hello..." she heard a voice whisper back as the mirror glimmered.

Gasping back she pulled her self away from the mirror. She narrowed her raven eyes at the glass.

"Is anyone there?" the wavering voice asked again, it was coming from the mirror. It had voice her daddy did like a grown-up but more friendly. Pepper hesitantly answered mirror, sadly resulting slowly into a domino effect that would later fall into place in her later years.

"Hello." The mirror had come to life just as she would have thought in any case when it came to magic, just like all those other movies she thought innocently.

"Can you ... see... me?" she heard the voice asked.

"No..." Pepper raised a brow looking at her reflection, she stepped up to the mirror "Can you see me Mister Mirror?"

The mirror's voice was silent for a minute before answering, "Yes...but you can't see me..."

Pepper shrugged her shoulder and smiled at the Mirror, "That's okay... would you like to be my friend Mr. Mirror?" the toddler asked the voice behind the mirror. It was a simple and innocent request which the voice didn't mind answering.

"Sure, I'll be your friend." The voice replied in a cheery tone. Pepper grinned wildly, she didn't have many friends besides her siblings, so the magical mirror would be first friend raven haired girl would make, unfortunately. "W-What is your name?" the wavering voiced asked.

"Oh my name is P-"

"Oh Pepper!" A deep voice called out interrupting her small introductory with her new friend. It was her daddy that was calling her.

She could hear his footsteps approaching the door, Pepper gulped.

"Mr. Mirror is very quiet. "She warned the mirror nervously, "I might get in trouble."

"Alright..." the voiced whispered back as Pepper's father's footsteps stopped at the door. She could her father sigh tirelessly before knocking on the door.

"Pep are you in there sweetie?" he asked softly, peeking his head through. Her father had short bright blonde hair combed back with gel, a chiseled face with a short stubble beard. He and Kingston shared the same piercing blue eyes, on her father's was laced with kindness. He was a tall well-built man with a little muscle, looking no little over his late 20's despite he much older age.

"Yes Daddy." she lowered her head once his eye caught her ebony ones. She knew now was when her father was going to be upset but instead of frowning he just walked over to the small girl. He was calm considering how she had broken one of the many rules.

Pepper dug her hands into her pockets avoiding her father's gaze; he clicked his tongue watching his youngest fidget under his stare. Right now he should have been lecturing his daughter from wandering up the forbidden parts of the house, the girl was quite small for her age, he was afraid that she might accidentally break a bone but didn't feel the energy to scold her at the moment.

He bent down to her eye level, raising her head up to face him. Her raven eye's held the tears that were tempted to fall, "it is okay little banana I'm not gonna yell at you like your brother okay." he soothed her wiping her small cheeks. "We're just gonna talk, alright. So you don't have to be so upset." She pursed her lips into a thin line as she nodded.

"Now Pepper, you know you're not allowed to come here especially in this room." he said looking around the room. There were all types of random stuff in this room particularity, plenty of sharp and rusted things that were dangerous to the five old.

"Because I'm really small, and I might hurt myself..." she recited the many warning her father had repeated to her. Her father nodded, "Right. Daddy doesn't want his little banana pepper getting hurt." he pulled the little girl into a hug as she sniffled. The raven-haired girl leaned against her father's shoulder with a light frown.

"But i won't get hurt, papa. I'm strong like a pepper like you said before," she argued.

Her father half way sighed and chuckled at his daughter's stubbornness. "Alright you got me there Pep but you know you make daddy worry a lot. You don't want daddy to worry do you?" she shook her head snuggling into her father's arms. "Then don't be such a stunt devil will ya." he kissed her temple causing the girl to giggle.

"Alright daddy hehe. I promise." she laughed giving her father devilish grin. Her father smirked at her knowing look. "Princess, Kingston told me that you broke a mirror is that true?" Pepper hid her panicked looked with fake tears in her eyes "Of course not papa. Just look at the mirror it's not broken. King just wanted to fib on Me." she lied.

Her father raised a brow, "Really Pep? Do you know why would King do that Pepper?"

"H-He locked me outside all alone...s-so he could w-watch T.V." she told her daddy with her lip trembling. Her father frowned at that and wiped the fake tears that rolled down her cheeks. "Your brother was being mean again was he?" he said glaring downstairs. The raven-haired girl sniffled burying her head in her father's neck. "Y-Yes."

"How about this princess, I'll have a little talk with your brother and let mommy give you some ice cream. She nodded with a smile appearing on her lips.

"Alright, little banana. With that settled do you want to go see what Mama and your big sister got you from the mall as well?" he asked his daughter. She let out a toothy smile nodding vigorously. Her father kissed her forehead standing back up with his daughter in his arms.

Pepper's father failed to the raven-haired girl's victorious smirk as he walked towards the door. Such a mischievous little girl.

The small tike's eyes starred back at the mirror as it glimmered. She waves goodbye at her new friend, wishing she had more time to talk. Hoping to see her friend again soon without her family keeping her away from the room. Yet she failed to hear the whisper from the mirror as the door closed to the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, i totally forgot to post the damn chapter, I have to personally thank Dana for commenting and remind me yesterday.  
> Pls enjoy this chapter

_Back then, i could say it started as an innocent curiosity with blinded tides. I was naive and unaware of what the world had intended with me, such cruel and beautiful days upon me._

_...You on the other hand, lived your innocent moment, the smile of unknown corruption that dared to breach open- lay dormant within your abnormality. Your luck, charisma, and devotion have brought you afar keeping your pure heart for the longest you could bear. But once the door opened to a much-hidden path that was buried and bandaged up to be sealed away, that is when the monster finally found its way to your corrupted realization._

* * *

Pepper found herself going back into the forbidden room, to meet and talk to her new friend in the mirror. The tiny five years old played it smart by sneaking upstairs during her after hours of her bedtime, to avoid being spotted by her parent and older siblings. Her father and King had been keeping a close eye on her since the last stunt she pulled with her brother. Setting up more 'Safety' precautions for the smaller girl but like always the mischievous little one found a way around them. Determined to speak to her secret friend behind the mirror. She hasn't been caught not once as she swiftly moved in the shadows. Like tonight Pepper slipped out of her bed and out of her bedroom as the clocked ticked at a treacherous hour of 11:00 pm.

Climbing up, and over the stair gates, that had arisen over the past few days. Yet her parents over precaution for her simply just fail as she went through them with ease. Pepper tiptoed into the room with caution, closing the door behind her. The room was dark with only a slither of moonlight coming from the curtains. The shadows of the aged objects in the room were loomed over the only light, creating an eerie feeling. The raven-haired girl despite her age was not frightened by the room's creepy feel, being too naive to be aware.

With a grin the five-year-old trotted towards the mirror before sitting in front of it with her legs crossed. Her lips curved into a smile as she placed her small palm on the surface of the glass.

"Mister Mirror. I'm back again," she whispered out to the mirror. The glass glimmered to life an instant later to her call.

"Pepper." The mirror voiced.

"Hey Mirror, it's just me, Pepper again." Pepper welcomed the voice.

The voice chuckled at the little girl, "It's nice to see you again Pep, it's a little late isn't it Pepper. Don't you have a bedtime?" The raven-haired tike bit her lip knowing the voice had pointed that out but let a childish grin meet her features.

"Hehe. Well, I kinda had a very long day Mr. Mirror with mama. I tried to come here earlier but Mama wanted to do stuff." The owner's voice peeked at that, "Really, what type of stuff?"

She bit at her lower lip as she began to recall the early events of the day, "Um well after I had breakfast, Mama made me get dressed into some nice clothes she told me that today was special and that we're going to a special place. Mama drove me, big brother, and sister to someplace. "

"What was the place called?" Pepper shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't remember if her mother had told her what the place was called or not. She was too marbleized by the number of children there in one place. There were kids walking around with their mother's around the same age as her older siblings. They had run off to partake in the small talk with their peers as Pepper was left with her mother. "The place was really big, bigger than the mall i think and there were kids there too. There were a lot of kids that looked about my age and some around King and Violet's age. I got to meet this nice tall lady that was handing out candy whenever we came into her room. She said she was gonna be my teacher." she gave an unsure gesture as she turned to look at the glass on the wall, "Do you know what that is mister mirror?"

"Know what is?" he repeated blankly to the girl, who giggled. "A teacher silly. Do you know what that is?"

The voice laughed sheepishly, "Oh that. Well that's quite easy."

Pepper tilted her head in curiosity, "Could you tell me I really would like to know." The raven-haired girl could only imagine that the voice in the mirror was smiling, a sweet chuckle vibrating off the mirror.

"Well Pepper a Teacher, can also be known as a Master, sensei or instructor, it all means the same things though. A Teacher is a person that helps you learn new things, like reading, math, umm counting, Abc's..." he trailed off.

"But i already know how to do all that." she pointed out. The mirror seemed to be surprised by this, "Really...?"

"Mamma says I'm pretty smart for my age but what's the point of going if I know everything?" The raven-haired girl's eyes downcast a bit. "Well at least I get to play with the other kids."

"Ooh you can make friends, i bet that will be fun." the mirror reassured the five-year-old, the girl perked right back at that. "Really!" she nearly shouted before clasping her hands over her mouth. She peeked behind her waiting for someone to come through the door. She was unsure somebody heard her; then again everyone was still downstairs.

"I don't think anyone is coming Pepper..." the mirror said in a hushed tone.

"Alright." she whispered back, hesitantly turning back to face the mirror, "Sorry about that..." she apologized. The mirror chuckled sheepishly, making the small girl smile a bit.

"Is alright Pep... just try not to be so loud again."

"I won't i promise..." she whispered as she thought back to their conversation. The little child had never been around children around her age as long as she could remember. She was filled with new hope; she was going to be a huge classroom full of kids like earlier today. The more she thought about it the more she realized the fun possibility. She remembered the toys', snacks, and the huge playground that was outside of the huge building. She could add more friends to her list. She wasn't sure if any of her friends would be as close to her as the mirror, but friends were good to have none the less. The tiny child wondered if her friend had some of his own.

"Mister Mirror do you have friends?"

The reflective surface shimmered at her question,"...Yes, I have quite a few...why do you ask?"

She shrugged her shoulders playfully, tucking her baby hairs behind her ear, "Ya don't say much about you. I talk all the time about the stuff I do cause you are my friend, and no one wants to listen. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't know anything about you. Like your friends."

"Aww why to thank you, Pepper, i wouldn't mind telling you about my friends, it'll be a long story I must warn you." the mirror light hardheartedly warned the girl. Man in the mirror indeed had quite a story of his adventures with his friends; some might call out of this world.

The innocent child smiled at her magical friend, she loves the sincere tone in his voice and devoted attention she received from the mirror. There was an instinct in her gut that told her the mirror was a good storyteller; it was just something about the mirror. "Don't worry I'll listen, I love long story's. Violet used to read me bedtime stories but they were all ways too short for me." Pepper scooted closely to the front of the large mirror that stood a broad in its glory, her eyes widen in intent to listen to what story the mirror had for her.

* * *

**Time skip... three years...**

The door shut as quickly as it was open, the bang of the door closing echoed throughout the house. Two older blonds shook their heads as they followed after their younger sibling. The raven-haired girl threw her purple backpack aside as she quickly ran up the stairs.

The short-haired blond sighed, pushing a hair out of her face, casting a wary look the direction her younger sister had run off to. "She's such a cry baby sometimes..." her older brother sneered walking off to the kitchen.

A frown appeared on her lips, "Kingston you could have stopped those girls from picking on her."

"She could have handled it Violet." The blue iced eyes narrowed at her brother, a growl escaping her lips.

"She's literally freaking eight years old; Pepper really doesn't have strong self-esteem as we do." The older rolled his eyes, he didn't see the point his sister was getting at. He was aware of the little situation that his sister was going through at school, elementary was a hard time for anyone, kids were meaning. His little tike of a sister had bitten just need a little bark, coddling her would just be waste. Of course, they all worried about her because of her small abnormal size compared to other sized eight years old's, but she had hella endurance.

"Don't come whining to me about what I've should have done Violet, she's a smart girl she knows what to do," he told his sister as he disappeared to his room.

Violet sighed at her insensitive brother; he was close to graduating this year and ready to leave the house. The only responsible thing he did with her nowadays was picking Pepper up from school. He didn't bother to watch Pepper as much anymore because of the clashing of personality's, Violet spent most of her time tending to her sister when her parents were off at work.

Speaking of which the teen needed to start making her a snack, knowing her little sibling had an odd appetite despite her tiny size. It would only be a matter of time before she came running down those steps dramatically asking where her snacks were at. She didn't know what it was about the room upstairs, which the girl kept coming back there knowing it was off limits. It had been going on three years now; her parents had given up on telling her not to go up there. It was her safe room in sense; it was unspoken in the family to name it that way, but it kept the girl from staying up so late when everyone was asleep. Violet was sure Pepper had slight insomnia sometimes.

Pepper was an odd one, technically being the little black sheep of the family full of blonde and blue eyes. Being the only raven-haired child of the family with eyes so dark it looked as if her no pupils. She vividly remembers the months leading up to her sister's birth. Her mother had barely shown until the last couple of months of her pregnancy were she blew up out of nowhere. It surprised everyone, but the doctor's said it was good that she was finally gaining weight. Violet remembered the day Pepper was born, her mother had gone into labor at only six months, nothing could be helped as Pepper was born prematurely.

As soon as Pepper left the womb doctors took her away to check up on her, being three months late in all. Her loud wails carried strongly throughout the NICU, it would be a whole hour before anyone could see her. Doctors were surprised by the health and strength of the little infant, saying it was abnormal for preemie babies to be so healthy.

The celebration was lived short once the family got a look at her; she was born with totally different physical characteristics than what everyone in the room had. Being born with a wild head full of hair that was coal-black and already observant dark onyx eyes staring at objects. Pepper freaked her out a bit if she wasn't crying she was staring very intensely at her as if she was plotting something, and at times she believed she was. Kingston and their mother often wondered if Pepper was even the right baby, Violet's mother openly asking if they had gotten a mix-up.

Her father was quiet not saying a word as her mother debated on wither or not Pepper was their baby, he just studies the infant as if he were scared. He denied for a DNA test finally, saying 'I know she is, I feel it in the heart that she is the one.' strongly claiming her as a part of the family. Smiling warmly as he cradled the frail girl proactively. Remembering it now her father was... Off that day as if he had come to a realization. He seemed to be most amazed yet terrified at the same time. Her father had always been the one to overemphasize on safety when it came to Pepper, even as she grew crazy strong for a baby. Pepper was the sweet little rebel of the house, her raven head popping everywhere around and nowhere.

The blond hummed to herself, hoping the little rebel would be alright once her and King would be out of the house. The girl was already lonely, Violet was more close to Kingston as Kingston was to her. The age group being vastly wide between the three, she wished her rebel of a sister the best as she made the tiny sandwiches.

...LG...

"I see school didn't go too well today ..."

Pepper shook her head, brushing the tears that covered her redden cheeks. Sitting crossed-legged in front of the mirror in her school uniform. Her once pristine white shirt now covered in purple and red juice. The voice of the mirror showed covered in his voice obvious of how upset Pepper was at the moment.

"No it didn't..." She whimpered.

The voice sighed at the eight-year-old, "Was it, Annie, again?" The raven-haired girl nodded a strong frown straightening her lips; she had a very distaste feeling to her fellow classmate of a bully.

"Yeah..." she growled under breath, clenching her fist in her palm just remembering the incident on the monkey bars. Pepper often played alone when it was recess, she was used to the independent play. The pigtail girl was too much of a rough house tike to play with the other girls and too much of a girl to play with boys sadly. After three years of attending School she found it best to avoid conflict with other clicks, which she had done easily so far. Although she played alone she had her own little group that consisted of her three friends: Olivia, Shelby, and Aurel. These three girls were her best friends, having similar traits to each other that attracted them into a friendship in the first place. But there was one problem with that, a very childish and rather avoidable problem; her friends were two levels above her grade. Not that Pepper had a problem with this, but having friends that were 'bigger' kids would make your big talk. Children her age amazed at how she could even understand the trends and basic intellectual conversations of older children. Pepper thought it was stupid, but dear old Annie did not. One could say Annie was a popular kid within the second-grader community. Not that the raven-haired girl gave a hoot, Annie disliked the fact that Pepper the pipsqueak got attention and deiced to terrorize her.

Later at school today Annie and her little clique had caught Pepper unsuspectingly on the monkey bars. Pepper hanged upside down from the lengthily monkey bars, her arms dangling carelessly. As she hanged from the monkey bars carelessly, Annie took the opportunity to grab her onyx hair and pulling her off the monkey bars. Roughly landing on her back, Annie and her friends proceeded to kick her and dirt at the girl. Where were the teachers you ask? Oh you know nowhere to be found as a group of children ganged up on another student. King had only shown up at the last minute to see his sister being held down with food being thrown at her. The culprits had scampered away from being punished by the high schooler, leaving Pepper embarrassed and dirty. Kingston scolded his sister as he carried her to his car away from the other children.

"I'm so sorry Pepper..." the mirror cooed, the voice of the mirror which he could do more to help the girl.

"It's alright Goku, it's not like their Kicks actually hurt. They did sting a little..." Pepper told the man in the mirror, rubbing her arm where one of Annie's friends kicked her.

"I'm gonna be honest with you Pep, you shouldn't have let those girls do that to you." Her raven brows furrowed a bit, it seemed that her friend agreed with Kingston as well.

"Even if I tell them to stop, they'll keep doing it anyway Goku. As long as I'm friends with Olive, Shelby, and Aurel, i see no future where Annie will discontinue her reign of terror. Well... that is... if unless I stop being friends with them." The eight-year-old explained to the man in the mirror.

He sighed softly watching as the sad child felt at lost at what to do. There was only so much Goku could do through the mirror, help was limited using his voice alone to guide her. "Sweetie you can at least fight back, I know you have the strength to do it."

"How can I!" she finally growled, "I don't know how to fight, and I'm too little to do anything." she crossed her arms together. Pepper turned her head away from the mirror, even if she knew how to fight, her size would be her disadvantage for sure...

"That's not true Pepper if anything your size can be your greatest advantage in a fight." he pointed out to the eight-year-old. "How?"

"You remember my friend that I told you about, the one with no nose."

"Krillin. He is one of your best friends right?" The pig-tailed girl glanced.

"...Yes. Krillin and I trained a lot together when we were younger, being practically my equal for a long time, he is one of the strongest people on the planet currently." Pepper had an amazing look on her face.

"Really? I didn't know he was that strong, isn't he supposed to a midget or something though?" If Pepper could see the face behind the mirror, she would see the sweat drop that formed at his head.

"Yes sweetie, but saying he's a midget is kinda offensive."

"But Kingston call's me a midget."

The mirror shimmered as the man's voice chuckled a bit, "Well you shouldn't, start telling him to stop Pep. Back to the topic, despite how small he may be, Krillin uses his height to his advantage. You, Pepper are faster and nimbler compared to your opponent, making it difficult for your opponent to grab you or catch you on your defensive and/or offensive. Speed is your best ally when you lack height, you can give someone a run for their money already with your current speed and agility now."

"I guess your right about that Goku." she agreed to purse her lips at the thought.

"And besides, Pepper you can pack a punch."

She shrugged her shoulders, "If so I can, it doesn't matter if I can't control it. I need to know how to fight first." The mirror shimmered as the girl off put the idea.

"...I can teach you a couple of Offensive and Defensive moves if you like...?" Goku offered, "It'll be a simple little lesson for you to learn." He wanted to see where the girl's power may have obtained, over the past three years he had watched the girl he seen some potential. He only wanted to teach her simple basic stuff, nothing too much that could get out of hand at her school.

She nearly jumped up on top of the mirror upon hearing Goku's offer, her mouth stretched out into an over ecstatic smile. "Goku are you serious!?" she whispered loudly.

If he could, he would nod,"Mhm. I won't be able to instruct you physically on how to do the lesson but I believe I can dumb down the basics for you verbally. Then go into full detail once you get the Jest of it all." his voice wavered a bit as he conformed.

Liking the sound of that, Pepper stood up from the ground taking off her jacket and shoes. "Well let's get started shall we."

"Y-You wanna start now?" The pigtailed girl gave the mirror a mischievous grin, as she moved her shoes aside. She had heard so many stories from the mirror that amazed her, his wonders adventures she could only wish of having. If the eight years old could learn a couple of moves from a martial artist she would, and now was her chance to learn some from the man himself.

"There's no waste in waiting for any longer Goku, I need to learn how to defend myself in case something worst happens. What if next time it's not Annie and it's an older kid that wants to pick on me. I don't know what I'll do." A puppy's face softens her features as she tried to persuade Goku even more. She smiled inwardly knowing Goku would fall for her sadden looks.

A vibrated sigh came from the mirror, "a First thing first is that we got to work on that stance."

* * *

...LG...

Humorous whistling could be heard throughout the kitchen along with the sound of a knife connecting on the chopping board. Violet had deiced to make a stew of vegetables with steak to company it. As of now the bob cut blonde was chopping a piece of steak into nice sized cubes for her younger sibling. Her sister had trouble eating a regular-sized steak because of her small baby teeth, making these bit-sized would be safest and neatest way for Pep to eat.

A had a mutual smile once she could finally smell her results from the oven. Another project the teen had started just for the fun of it. She grabbed the mittens as she opened up oven, the steam and aroma of rising bread hit her tenfold. "Tsk tsk, this is hot."

Violet fanned over the steaming roll's cooling them off. She pursed her lips leaning over them, carefully she pick one from the tray to inspect it.

At that moment her father had walked the Kitchen hanging up on a call. A grin met his lips once he notices what his eldest daughter was doing. "Hey sweet pea."

"Eye Pops." she greeted her father, breaking apart the roll oozing cheese in the center. Her father kissed her temple walking pass her, "Ooh gimme gimme." Swiping part of the cheese roll from her hand, earning an icy glare. "Wayy better than your mothers." he complimented his daughter, Violet playfully smack her father's head. Chuckling, her father ruffled her blonde hair, "I see why Pepper likes this so much."

"Speaking of Mom and Pepper where exactly are they at?" she asked popping the other half of the roll in her mouth.

"Oh well your mother, she was at the school and she's on her way to the house now, I had just gotten off the phone with her," he explained, taking a seat at the Island. "Apparently Kingston and Pepper were misbehaving and was sent to the principal's office."

"What those two?" she said surprised, "What did they do?"

The blond-haired man shrugged his shoulders, "She was quite too pissed to tell me, I'm afraid. I thought you might have known since she gave you the okay to make dinner." She shook her head, placing out the plates, "Nah, Mom just sent it to me through a text. I hope it isn't about what happened yesterday." she slipped at the end

"About what Violet?" He was unaware that something had occurred yesterday dealing with his children. She mentally cursed at her slip of what happened yesterday. Her and Kingston deiced best not to tell their parents knowing hoe overly protective their father was. Watching one of his eldest give him a sheepish chuckled only fueled his curiosity. "Something happened between those two that I don't know about?" he asked using his stern voice.

"Mhmm yeah..." cringing at her poor resistance to muster up a lie, her father leaned intended to find out what happened. "It's more or less really...Lately Pepper has been getting bullied by a couple of girls."

"What!? Why didn't you tell me this earlier?! How long has this been going on?" his voice rising a bit. Violet put her hands up, "D-Dad in my defense I only realized this yesterday but apparently it's been going on since school started according to Kingston and Pepper. To the reason why we didn't tell you...um Dad you're really overprotective over her."

"How is that a reason not to tell me?"

The sixteen-year-old slighted scoffed at her father's denial, "Dad I'm sure you would drop kick a kid if you see what happen yesterday."

"Now you're taking it to the extreme, I wouldn't drop-kick a child. The grown-up things I'm going to do is talk to the parents. They're in the second grade, so I assume their bullying consisted of calling names at the most, right?" Violet sighed as she got some silverware out, she bit her lip debating whether or not to tell her father.

"Right?" he repeated, as Violet tried to occupy herself with the food. Thankfully the front door opening took his attention off of her. "Thank god..." she whispered to herself.

"Archie!" Violet's mother yelled.

Her father turned around in his seat to facing the doorway of the kitchen, "I'm in here Octavia, no need to scream." The distant sound of his wife's heels clicking against the floor, letting him know she was a bit irritable.

Octavia came into view through the doorway with a strong frown planted on her lips. Her arms were crossed across her chest as she walked over to her husband. A peeved vain was strikingly visible on her forehead. Her husband offered a meek smile, knowing it might annoy his wife he couldn't help but awkwardly smile. She shook her head walking over to husband, resting her forehead against his. Archie gently grabbed her chin and lead her lips to his, giving her short peck to calm her down.

Violet blushed a bit trying to ignore the little interaction in front of her, finishing the small touches to setting up the table. Her mother pulled away from her father sighing, "What am I going to do with those two." she mumbled. Her husband hugged his wife gently.

"How bad was it?" He asked his wife petting her long blond hair.

"We almost had to pay 12,000 dollars in hospital and dentist bills." she told him monotonously.

"What!?" Violet and Archie yelled in sync. Archie looked at his wife appallingly, "Are you serious?"

She gave a curt nod, flicking the hair out her eyes, "Oh yes, I was almost willing to pay for the bills, but that school has me fucked up if they think I'm gonna pay for those bills after what they've done to Pepper." she growled. "Apparently a couple of girls have been bullying Pepper viciously."

"Violet just mentioned before you walked in that, Pep was getting picked on. You make it sound like the kids were harassing her."

"Archie these little hellions were physically harassing Pepper by means of Punching, pushing and shoving and much more. Pep has swollen fist and a busted lip right now, I swear if i could drop slam a couple of brats I would. They showed me some camera feed from the playground from yesterday and... I just... "She gritted her teeth as she trailed off." Violet's father stood up from his chair immediately hearing that his daughter was physically hurt, "What! Where's Pepper Now!?" Octavia grabbed her panicking husbanded and pushed him back down into the Island chair.

"She's alright; Kingston is cleaning her up right now. He's being a decent big brother right now. Apparently our dearest Kingston knew it was going on since the very day it started. "

"Did he do anything?" Violet asked her mother, she herself had forgotten to ask if her older brother tried to protect Pepper beforehand.

"Sadly no. Your brothers quoted on words were, 'there's no need to teach a lion how to hunt, and eventually it will kill.' As much as that sounds off the wall and slightly concerning ", Octavia palmed her forehead, "He was sorta right." Her husband rose a concerning brow.

" Excuse me, mom, How does that crazy shit sound right?" she asked a bit mortified, cause that was his actual reasoning for not stopping an eight-year-old from getting bullied. Not protruded by his daughter's language, her father seconded Violet's question.

"Yeah please do explain honey, because our son will be reeving extreme punishment no matter how sane his reasoning might seem to you." her father snapped a bit.

"Hey! I'm not saying I agree with Kingston, if you let me finish you two then I can explain what exactly happened today. Those three girls that were messing with Pepper threw her off the monkey bars and ganged up on her yesterday, tried to gang up on Pep again in art class today. Well that did not go the way those girls thought. Annie, the ring leader of the group I guess, made a comment towards Pepper's drawing, then crumbled it up and slapped it in Peppers's face."

"Is that why she has the busted lip?"

"Yeah, kids these days are ruthless, but I'm afraid Pepper is way worst." Her husband and daughter gave her a grim look, "What do mean Mom?"

"I guess Pepper had enough so she-man slams, Annie, on top of the wooden table. Then proceed to climb on top of Annie and started to lay down a brutal ass whooping on the poor girls face. Knocking out three sets of teeth, broken nose fractured forearm ohh and let's not forget a fractured bottom jaw." Violet and Archie looked the long boned haired woman a gaped, "Mom please tell me you're kidding?"

"I wish i was Kiddo, after that I guess Annie's friends tried to get Pepper off of her, and also suffered injuries. I would love to go into detail but i fear I would guilt-trip myself into feeling pity. I know it's wrong for how badly she injured the others but they had it coming."

"..." Violet took a bite of a roll that had by now cooled off, this was not what she meant when she hope her little sister would be alright by sending other little girls to the hospital. Archie sat silent digesting what his wife was telling him, something about the situation didn't make sense. How would an eight-year-old girl be able to shatter a jaw bone and knock teeth out? What type of strength did his youngest really have?

" ...As you know , that the elementary art class is right next to the high school's art class and Kingston just so happened to walk in there. He stopped the fight cause the teacher acted as if she was too 'incompetent' to stop an eight-year-old." she said scoffing, "But Kingston being Kingston, he cheered on Pep and victory speech. He got suspended for instigating a fight."

The gel haired man facepalmed " Oh god, please don't let my son procreate." he begged, making his wife chuckle.

"Despite all that, the only thing that concerns me is the comment made by a teacher that also happened to be teaching the high school art class. He said that Pepper used some type of techniques when she fought the other girls like knowing pressure points, and taekwondo type of stuff."

Archie gave his wife a questionable look, "Taekwondo?"

"Pressure Points? Are you sure Mom?"

She nodded, "He showed me some footage, and it had me a little shook at how serious Pepper looked. Like she knew and practiced those moves before. The Principle let her off the hook after seeing the bullied feed caught on camera and fired some teachers. And suggest that we put her in an anger management activity of some sort." she ended looking at her husband.

"..." Archie groaned loudly, letting his head hit the table of the Island. Octavia rolled her eyes petting her husband's head.

"You're so dramatic sometimes; I already agreed to it, I just need to get an activity picked out for her." Violets father sighed silently before turning to his eldest daughter. She raised a brow at her distressed father. "Do they have a taekwondo Classed in the school?" Mother and Daughter looked at him as if he was out of his mind, didn't he just hear what Pepper did earlier.

"Um... yeah. You want her to enroll in that?" he nodded. "Um why?"

"If think Pepper has talent in fighting, because I see in the future that this won't be the only fight, I want her to be in control and know how to protect herself." he reasoned. Violet could tell her father was struggling a bit to agree with himself.

"If that's what you choose then alright. I'll see if that's what she might be interested in doing first before us making a final decision." He nodded, propping himself up.

"Alright." he groaned grabbing a plate, Octavia rendered a light smile.

"DADDY! KINGSTON SAY'S THE BOOGIE MONSTER IS GONNA GET ME! ...AGAIN!" They heard Pepper scream before dashing inside the Kitchen to her father. The daughters on the topic scrabble past her mother's legs and into her father's lap. The blond hair father awkwardly welcomed his youngest. "Hey Banana Pepper." Pepper gave her father a dopey smile while checking over his shoulder looking for her brother. She turned her attention back to her father once it seemed that Kingston wasn't following her.

"Hey daddy." her smile dropped noticing her father's faltering frown. Archie had a disappointing frown studying his daughter's face. "How was school?" She shyly glanced at her father, by his tone she could tell he knew what happened at school. Pepper looked at her mother for some type of escape but was shot down, "Don't even missy. You have to explain to your father why you were sent to the office." she scolded crossing her arms, gulping Pepper turned back to her father. "...I got into a fight." she whispered.

Her father placed a hand in his hip releasing a light sigh, "Did you win?" he asked her grinning. She immediately smiled at her father, "Yep." she beamed, high fiving her father. Surprising his wife and eldest daughter as he praised her, "Atta girl!" Her mother slapped her husband's head, "Archie you're not supposed to praise her! If you praise Pepper, she'll think it's okay to beat people up."

Grimacing at his wife's attack, he shook his head, "I know sweetie but she also doesn't need to feel wrong about defending herself... thought it was brutal." His wife ran her hand through her hair breathing frustratingly. Her husband was right, but on the other hand she didn't want to give the impression that beating people up would solve her problems, nor feel proud for sending them to the hospital they were children for god's sake. But speaking from the other perspective she was glad that her little girl confronted her bully that had been terrorizing her for a long time, she could only imagine the older and well-sized children towering small Pepper who was defenseless with non-helpful adults around. Octavia sighed wish it could have been handed another way without bruises and missing teeth but was done was done. "Jesus Archie...Pepper you shouldn't let other people mess with you, no matter how tall or big they are. Nobody has the right to hurt or belittle you as those three girls did, do you understand." she told her daughter with a softened yet stern look.

"Yes Ma'am." Octavia lifted her face up to face her, "A-and sweetie even though I'm not outright pleased with your actions today, I am proud that you stood up for yourself. Next time something similar happens please tell me, Violet or your father alright." Pepper nodded, her mother kissed her temple with a light smile. "I promise." Relieved about the talk, she handed Pepper a plate.

"Good Pep. Go ahead and eat, your sister made you Cheese rolls today and steak, I'm going to have a much-needed talk with your brother." She gave her husband a warning glare before walking off.

"..." Pepper and her father stared at each other, an awkward grin popping up her face. Archie gave her the look for her to make her plate. Biting the inside of his cheek at the thought of feel as if he had let is daughter off a little too easy. He knew his wife would expect a punishment of some type, her reason for giving him that glare as she left.

"You heard your mother banana Pepper, I agree with her strength and because I don't wanna be harassed by your mother there will be a punishment ..." he said trailing off before Pepper could frown." I already have one in mind but I won't tell you till Saturday what you'll be doing."

Pepper groaned loudly grabbing her cut up pieces steaks from Violet, "But i beat the bully, shouldn't I be getting rewarded or something. My friend tells me that good always prevails through evil, and I think I prevailed pretty good today." she mutters between bites.

"Yeah Pep, but I'm sure even your friend would agree that you went overboard." Pepper stuck her tongue at Violet, "Actually I think he would be proud that I stood up and fought back."

Her father fluffed her hair, Pepper giving him a look of annoyance, "I'm proud of you kid but ya still need punishment kiddo." The raven-haired child bit angrily into her vegetables, enjoying the taste beside the frown on her lips. The older family members chuckled a bit at the little girl's pout.

"Hey Pep?" Pepper grunted to let her know she was listening.

"So this friend of yours, you said he was guy right?" she asked suddenly. Pepper tilted her head before nodding. "Yeah... he is really nice," she answered cautiously hearing a scheme coming off of her. Speaking of him, she couldn't wait to him about her day, he would be so proud at her skills. She smiled warmly, glad that she had listened to his advice about standing up for her.

Catching a smile from the girl, Violet grinned playfully, "Aww, do you have a little crush on him?"

Pepper tilted her head to the side as her father chocked on his food, "A crush?" Her father began coughing looking at Violet, the eldest daughter smiled at the innocent look Pepper had. "Mhm, do you like him?" she repeated.

"Of course, he's my best friend," she answered, not understanding what her sister was getting at.

"Yes, just a friend. Violet." She rolled her eyes at her father's warning tone, she was teasing with Pepper a bit. Trying to get a little rise out of her little sister, unfortunately her kid sister was a bit too young mined to think about boys like that just yet.

Pepper smiled brightly at thought of her friend in the mirror, "He's my best friend actually." She stuffed a couple of steak cubes in her mouth, stuffing her mouth full. "It's Gwood!"

"Pepper doesn't forget to chew dear." her father reminded her, he didn't want a chocking incident like last time she ate steak. He found it amusing at his daughter's appetite.

"Does your friend know you eat like this Pep?" Violet laughed.

"Mhm!" The raven-haired child said with a mouthful. She remembered Goku saying that he was amazed at how much she tended to snack. Archie chuckled at his manner-less daughter, kissing her little head.

"What am I gonna do with you little banana."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "M-Mom and Kingston are fighting again, and I think Kingston is gonna hurt Mom! He's really angry, a-and I don't know what to do!" she sputtered waving her hands around frantically, Archie instantly narrowed his eyes.
> 
> Pepper frowned as the tone shift in the room turning serious, her Mommy and brother were at it again. Her brother had been getting in a lot more trouble ever since the bully incident; his sour attitude had been affecting his relationships at home. Pepper believed that she and her brother were finally getting along after all these years; it felt as if all her hard work to connect with her brother was flushed down the toilet.
> 
> "Where are they now?" he demanded, his tone very serious.
> 
> "In the hallway between the kitchen and the living room-" The sound of glass shattering interrupted Violet a loud screech followed by it. The two sisters jumped at the sudden sounds, Violets eye's widening extremely.
> 
> Their father was upon his feet, running towards the door, "The both of you DO. NOT. LEAVE THIS. ROOM." he yelled as he closed the door behind him.

**_Despite your ill mannerism, you cared. It made me smile in the darkest and depressed hours. Even when my family started to fall apart you were the one to keep me away from the destruction that begun to grow. It still sickened me to know that I was the thread that undid it all, but you were the only one who seemed to want to catch me.  
_ **

* * *

The cute duo of father and daughter dressed in overalls stood in front of the front yard unpacking supplies from the car. Her father had come up with a punishment suitable for his youngest, house renovations. Pepper's father had lately been updating and renovating around the family home, the house had been in her mother's family for about four generations already before her mother was granted with it. So the house required renovation so it could stay in code, Kingston and her Father had made decent progress here and there.

But for now, Pepper would take Kingston's place for the remainder of a month and a half, not that little girl mind anyway, painting the walls looked fun.

The raven-haired tike carried large pints of paint into the house, surprising her father by her growing strength. She trotted well more like skipped across the yard in her pale pink overalls delivering the paint into the house while her father gathered the much bigger and heavier equipment.

"Alright Pep, I think that's everything." her father told her as he came in with one last box of new floor tiles. Mimicking her father she dusted off her hands with a grin.

"Alright Daddy, what part of the house are we going to fix up?" she asked her father as she looked over the boxes. The worded description had words that weren't in her vocabulary, yet, but from the visual description, it looked to be indoor appliances. "None of the stuff we picked looked like it's for outside," she noted.

Her father let out a low chuckle ruffling her raven-colored hair, Pepper scrunched up her nose at her unraveled hair. "Mhm, we're not doing any landscaping or remodeling on the exterior part of the house because 1)your way too young to be dealing with those tools and 2)Fall is coming soon, and I know your mother would be furious if you catch a cold because of the changing weather."

Pepper lifted her father's hand away from her head quickly protecting it with a helmet, "So we're remodeling one of the rooms?"

"Yep, one of the guest rooms." Pepper gave her father a questionable look raising a dark brow, as her father grabs a hold of a coup of trash bags. _A guest room?_ She thought amusingly, they had yet to be touched in quite some time, collecting much dust, such as the particular room she visited almost every day. "Grab a couple of the big trash bends Pepper; we're going to have to clear out the room before we can start remodeling the room altogether. I already started moving the big obstacles from the room with Kingston while you were at school this past week, so what remains should be an easy cleanup." He instructed his daughter.

Listing to the instructions given by her father she gathered the items needed and headed after father upstairs. The only time Pepper and her father would be on the stairs together was when he was scolding the child down the steps reminding her of the dangers of being unsupervised.

 _I wonder which room Daddy plans on redoing; I hope he doesn't pick the room with Goku in it._ She thought fearfully, _he'll tear down the wall holding the mirror for sure. You almost always tear down everything in the room when you renovate something. Oh no._ Pepper started to feel conflicted as she followed her father, the raven-haired girl was rather happy she was spending quality time with her daddy despite being on punishment, it was enjoyable, but she defiantly did not like the possibility of losing her friend within the mirror.

"Um, w-which guest room?" she lightly sputtered as they reached the top of the stairs. She glanced at her father from the corner of her eye as she held a stoic expression, he faces look relaxed as usual but at the last moment, Pepper caught the corner of his lips twitch right before he began to speak again. "Oh, you know Pepper, the room with all the old furniture, dust, and that large mirror."

Her heart drops down to her feet, her ears nearly falling death as her assumption came true. They were going to renovate that room, of all places she wished that room just stayed the way it was dark and with an unhealthy amount of dust that had accumulated over the years. The appeal of working with her father was losing its relish with each enclosing step. _If this is daddy's way of punishing me then I need to stop him! I can't lose Goku!_ She thought enraged, she loved her father but when it came to her friends she had to put her foot down. Her lips pursed into a frown, she hoped it wasn't the case.

Her blond-haired father called her out of her thoughts; he had come to a stop in front of her favorite room of the house. Her father had wild Chester cat grin on his face; he was excited to get started on this renovation. His happy demeanor a tad bit unnerving, Pepper began to second guess what exactly her father was planning to do with her. _He's never this happy with punishment to any of us...especially ME. He knows I favor this room a lot._

"Alright sweetie before we get started I need to explain some things." He suddenly squatted down to her eye level setting the bags in his hands aside. Pepper blinked cluelessly at her father, he was smiling very proudly at her. Weird. "Sweetie you know I love you lots and lot's right?"

She shook her head, "Yeah I know that, I love you lots and Lots to daddy." she told her father wholeheartedly. Her father's smiled widen, he moved his hand from his knees, cupping the side of her face gently, "Pep I want you to understand how proud I am of you for standing up for yourself against those bullies, regardless how brutal you were," she blushed in embarrassment, her father chuckled lightly. "And it's not just me who is proud, Mommy, Violet and defiantly Kingston of all people. We're all proud and very impressed with your bravery, never let someone walks all over you and take control of you, and never should you do that to someone else. Do you understand my little Banana Pepper?" He asked his youngest sternly, his bright orbs staring into her dark sparkling ones.

"Of course Papa, I have to treat everyone with respect no matter who a person might be, 'do onto others as you want others to do onto you'. " quoting her mother and her father's teachings.

"I had thought long and hard about what your punishment should be, and with your mother's approval I had come up the bright Idea to let you join me in house renovations," he jabbed his thumb towards the door itself," for this room particularly."

She looks at the door then back to her father, "Why would you do that?" she asked concerned and curious.

"Well, it's no secret that you favor this room very much, for what reason only you know. Beside our warnings, you sneak your tiny self-up here anyway." Pepper bit her lip knowing her father was calling her out for all the times she disobeyed her parent's warnings, "So I decided to go ahead and renovate the room for you."

Her coal colored eyes widen, what did he just say, "W-What do you mean?"

"I and your mother decided if it was best that we just give you the room, you spend more time in here than you do your room that you have now."

"This... is my r-room?!"She exclaimed as she pint between herself and the room, her father nodded with a smile. "I thought I wasn't supposed to be upstairs without an adult?" she said disbelieving words coming out her father's mouth.

"That hasn't kept you from coming up here, "he snorted, "and besides Pep, you're older now and more self-aware. I don't have to worry about you hurting yourself on theses step's... as much. You haven't bothered with any of the junk inside the room, or broken anything so you've earned me and your mother's trust that you can handle having a room to yourself up here."

Pepper couldn't help the smile growing over her features, "Really daddy. I...I thought this was a punishment. Why am I getting a reward, wasn't I supposed to learn from my mistakes and stuff?" she tilted her head as she questioned her father.

"That's where you assisting me comes in, as much as I am proud of you Pepper, you still need to pay what you owe for getting this room, your gonna help renovate this room to pay off your debt. Do you think you can handle it?" he challenged.

"There's not a thing I can't do as long as I have the 'want to'." she challenged back with her hands on her hips, her grin matching her fathers. "That's my girl." giving his daughter a fist pump before pulling her into a light hug. Archie pulled back to look into his little girl's face, her lip had healed over the past week pretty nicely, which he was grateful for. He ran his thumb over her puffy cheeks; she had yet to lose the baby fat. His youngest was something special, he remembered the day she opened her eyes for the first time, and how they sparkled with excitement. He knew at that moment she was different, he silently thanked God that Pepper was a humble child despite how much he spoiled her.

"Next time please come to me if this ever happens again...alright," he told her softly.

"I promise."

With that her father stood back up, grabbing hold of the bags that were on the floor. He gave Pepper a curt nod, he and Pepper pulled up the scarfs that were wrapped around their necks to the brim of their noses. "You ready to get started Banana Pepper?"

"Um, actually Daddy I got one request before we start."

* * *

"Come on Kingston, don't you want to see the big reveal of Pepper's new room?" violet called out to her brother who was dragging his feet.

"Would it surprise you Violet if I said no?"

"No but that statement would result in your car getting sold on eBay." his mother cut in from behind him. Most day's he found his mother's threats halfway empty, replying with a sarcastic remark, but refrained from doing so, choosing it best not to rile up his mother because he was belittling 'their vulnerable Pepper'. The blonde hair male rolled his eyes as he walked up the steps begrudgingly.

"I just don't see how Pepper gets rewarded is all, what're three scholarships compare to beating up on eight years old, I mean come on now," he muttered with fake enthusiasm. His mother narrowed her icy blue eyes at her son; her patience for her son's immature brooding was reaching its limits. Kingston's mood had deteriorated drastically ever since his father had broken the news of Pepper's punishment. Kingston and Octavia always budded heads, with similar triggers he had gained from his mother; Kingston had been feuding off and on with his parents more often.

"This could have all been avoided if would have the right thing in the first place Kingston. I and your father have been very, very, very lenient with you, so i would find it best if you would stop being jealous of an eight-year-old." she coldly advised Kingston. "Pepper as earned it and you would be able to see that if it weren't for your ** _incompetence_** to be her brother."

Kingston suddenly stopped his frown deepening into a scowl at his mother snide remark, his eye twitched as the anger boiled overturning his face red. This was the last time his name would belittle for the sake of his sister. "Jealousy! That's what you call it, that's what you think this whole thing is. Fucking. **Jealously**!?" Violet tensed at her brother's sudden outburst, she wondered when he would burst into a hissy fit, she had been the only one to see her brother battle in silent rage.

Octavia's mouth gaped at her son, her eye's silently fuming, "Excuse me, young man!"

"You heard me, it's damn near ridiculous between you and Dad. It's not about being jealous!" he punched the side of the wall making a dent. "It's Pepper this, Pepper that, the contentious cycle of shielding and mollycoddling of an insignificant brat. She's not even one of us!" he hissed at his mother. "Even you know that." He says cynically cutting his blue eyes at his mother venomously.

A loud audible slap followed, Kingston's cheek stung, it slowly turning a deep shade red in the shape of a handprint. "H-HOW DARE YOU!" Octavia yelled through clenched teeth.

Kingston was silent as he slowly looked back up at his mother, curling his lip as his mother grabbed a hold of his shirt. "H-HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR SISTE-"

"HOW DARE I!? HOW DARE YOU!" Kingston slapped his mother's hand away, "All you've and dad have done is pamper Pepper, deprived all of your attention into one child while abandoning the other two. Just two little side projects left to their own, you're never there mom! Pepper the golden child, Pepper can do no fucking wrong, can she! The lacking support that I and Violet gain from our **incompetent** ass Parents is fucking disgraceful. "He spat at his mother, jabbing is index finger irately at his mother. Kingston's hand backed his mother into the wall as Violet watched afraid of what was going to happen next. Octavia kept her eyes locked on her son's, her glare not showing any sign of backing down though inwardly she was worried about Kingston's rising hostility. "Like Monday, I bet you and dad have no fucking clue what that meant for Violet, do you?"

Violet bit her lip already knowing the answer, her brother growled through clenched teeth looked down at Octavia's clueless expression. Of course, his mother didn't know.

The blonde male let out a bitter chuckle, running a hand over his face, "Of course you don't fuc-

"Kingston j-just stop, alright...it doesn't matter!" Violet steps up, attempting to get in between her mother and Kingston, he shot her a glare pushing his younger sister back. "The fuck it does! Mom and Dad where the main reasons you took those high maintenance classes, yet they go ghost when it's timing your signing. Dad's too busy making sure Pepper's in lengths away from the 'inevitable' danger she's always in, Mom's too self-unaware of a child she coddles to no end. I don't know about you V, but i won't be brainwashed to believe that my existence is inferior to anyone else in this family."

The short-haired blonde turned her head away from her brother, biting back her tongue. She wanted nothing more to agree with her brother, he was right after all. Her parents had put all of their love and dedication into her younger sibling, she believed that it was unintentional considering Pepper's life recommends that type of support when she came into the world, yet as time went on and risks became less and less dire her parents continued the growing favoritism. Violet understood where her brother was coming from, but his reaction is brash, there were better ways of dealing with this.

"Violet sweetie...please go get your father." she heard her mother whispered not breaking eye contact with Kingston.

* * *

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Upstairs two members of the family were completely unaware of the situation downstairs; both were touching up the newly remodeled room. Pepper sat at the foot of her window concentrating on the project her father had assigned her, curtains. Her tiny hands work the rhythm of sliding the curtain rods through holes of the turquoise fabric. Nothing too tedious compared to work she had already previously applied to her room, but none the less it was a project.

The raven-haired child flickered her eyes up from her work and towards the far side of the room, the bathroom. She could hear her father muttering to himself about the sink again. It was not to either her or her father's knowledge that there was a bathroom attached to the formal guest room that was hidden and blocked off behind all the junk that clutter the room. The discovery of the hidden bathroom it had extended the project deadline, unfortunately. Her father finished his projects at a rather quick pace; she didn't understand why her father insisted on taking his sweet time in the bathroom. Something to do about pipes?

She held back a giggle when her father thudded his head against the sink. Her daddy could be so silly sometimes.

She turned her attention back to her curtains, smiling to herself at the texture and color. Smooth and bright unlike the ones her mother had in her room downstairs, well her old room. Pepper hoped Goku would like the change of scenery; she had yet to talk to him for a while.

Once she and her father began physically altering the walls, she had made her father promise to keep the mirror. Her father thought the request was quite odd but didn't deny his daughter's request, he had removed the mirror from the wall and safely moved the mirror into an isolated location until it was time to bring him back.

 _Why hasn't dad but the mirror back inside the room yet? He didn't break it as far as I know, so what's taking him so long?_ She let out a sigh, _I miss Goku._

The raven-haired child smacked her lips apart as she finished putting the curtain together, placed it next to the other finished curtain, nodding her head at her work. "Daddy I Fin-"

Pepper was cut off when her sister violet came frantically through her door, "Dad! Where are you!?"

Pepper blinked blankly at her distraught sister before replacing it with concern."Urm he's in the Bathroom...are you okay V?"

"Dad!" Ignoring her sister asking about her, "Could you please come downstairs it's urgent!" she yelled her voice crackling a bit. Archie sped walked out of the bathroom hearing his oldest daughter calling his name, tucking a towel into his pocket. His matched Peppers upon seeing Violet's appearance.

"Yes, I'm here. What's wrong sweetie?" he said with concern.

"M-Mom and Kingston are fighting again, and I think Kingston is gonna hurt Mom! He's really angry, a-and I don't know what to do!" she sputtered waving her hands around frantically, Archie instantly narrowed his eyes.

Pepper frowned as the tone shift in the room turning serious, her Mommy and brother were at it again. Her brother had been getting in a lot more trouble ever since the bully incident; his sour attitude had been affecting his relationships at home. Pepper believed that she and her brother were finally getting along after all these years; it felt as if all her hard work to connect with her brother was flushed down the toilet.

"Where are they now?" he demanded, his tone very serious.

"In the hallway between the kitchen and the living room-" The sound of glass shattering interrupted Violet a loud screech followed by it. The two sisters jumped at the sudden sounds, Violets eye's widening extremely.

Their father was upon his feet, running towards the door, "The both of you DO. NOT. LEAVE THIS. ROOM." he yelled as he closed the door behind him.

There was a pregnant pause as Pepper sat across from her sister in silence, finally Violet let out a heavy sigh, treading her finger through her thick but wispy blond hair. Pepper could see that her sister was upset, seeing her clenched fist at her side as she paced around. Her big sister was usually cool and level headed, never submitting to anger as quick as Kingston and her mother. It unsettled the little girl that her sister was cursing under her breath, her mother told her curing was bad after all although she cursed like a sailor when she thought Pepper was out of earshot.

Pepper chose not to acknowledge her sister as she paced and wait until she calmed down. She turned her attention to curtains on the newly applied dark grey carpet. She gathered the fabric into her arms, turning to face the mirror in front of her. Her brows furrowed, the widow was a lot higher than she could reach, and she let out whimper knowing she needed an adult's assistance.

 _Looks like I'm gonna have to do this by myself_ she sighed. She glanced over to the bathroom where father was previously at; _I think daddy had a ladder inside of the bathroom._ She strolled over to the bathroom looking for a ladder for her to use.

Sure enough, there was a ladder leaning against the bathroom wall with her father's toolbox set beside it. "I think i need might the both of you," she muttered to herself if she remembered right the curtains needed to be screwed into the top of the window border.

"Pepper, what are you doing?"

Pepper turned around to see Violet peeking her head inside the bathroom; she had a very curious look on her face now. It seemed her mood had improved a bit.

"Um...stuff." she raised the curtains in her arm's for Violet to see.

Violet closed the space between them, squatting down to Pepper's level as she inspected the fabric. Pepper waited for her sister to respond as she silently examined the texture, she glanced at Pepper, studding her siblings face. "Are you trying to hang those up?"

Pepper bit her lip nervously, "By myself, yes."

"Pepper you know you're supposed to ask a grown-up. Why didn't you ask me?" she sighed.

"I-I know, I just didn't want to bother you. You looked upset and i didn't want to upset you more by asking for your help," she whispered. The tone in her sister's voice made the raven-haired child uncomfortable, she sounded a bit annoyed.

Realizing her tone was making her sister feel like she was in trouble her eyes soften, "Sweetie i wouldn't have been bothered let's go ahead and put this all together right now. The both of us." she told her in a much softer tone.

"Really?" the younger replied with a bright smile.

"Of course little Banana." She said ruffing her sister's hair, Violet muster up a smile brushing the current situation downstairs from her mind, her sister didn't need to know she was one of the reasons there was an argument going on.

The short-haired blonde grabbed the toolbox leaving the ladder since Violet was tall enough to reach the top. Violet and Pepper happily worked together putting the curtains on her windows; the oldest was in a much more chipper mood as Pepper gave Violet a tour of her room.

"You picked up very cool modern colors Pepper, I'm impressed," Violet said looking at the cool shades of grey that covered the walls; it was accompanied with dark accents along the borders. "I like this better than the purple i had in my old room, Mom thinks to girly of me sometimes." Violet sided with her sister, her mother gave Pepper a pink pallet wardrobe. "And by picking a cool grey as the background it makes all the other bright colored things stand out. Like my nightstand, and my canopy sheets that go over my bed. Picking colors like a sunset orange and turquoise brings the little things to life."

Violet couldn't help but be a little glamour at little sister taste in style, "You are too smart for your good sometimes kiddo. Did you pick out the room divider back there too?" Violet pointed to the dark wooded room divide that stood in the large corner of her room, gold and maroon flowers decorated the linen screen.

Pepper shook her head, "Nope, daddy picked it out for me. He wanted me to have divider there so he could place a mirror behind it and so i change back there too."

"Oh. Is the mirror back there now?"

"No, daddy has it placed somewhere, which is not to my knowledge at all, but once it's back there it'll make my room complete. Well Daddy still working on the balcony, but that's not till next spring, so for now all i need is my mirror." the tiny tike flopped down into a bean bag chair, instantly sinking.

"OOF! V-Violet it just got really dark!" her cry was muffled as she tried to wiggle out the chair's grasp. Violet held back a giggle watching her sister struggle; Pepper would never cease to be adorable. With one tug Violet pulled her sister out of the chair, leaving her dangling in the air by her foot.

"T-Thank ..gasp...goodness...o-oxygen."

"Hehe, apparently bean bags are death traps."

"Apparently." Pepper sent the chair a glare as her sister sat her down, "Do you think my room looks alright though V?"

The short-haired blond pursed her lips, "Ahh it's decent."

Pepper narrowed her sparkling dark eyes at Violet, "Violet be serious." she whined.

"Alright Alright, your room looks really amazing Pepper. It's very cozy in here too, my bigger than my for sure, If i wasn't going away for college I would ask dad for one of these guest rooms too." she sighed lay down on Pepper's bed. _I can understand why Kingston's so mad, this room looks amazing, hell she even has her own bathroom, which is good cause she takes long showers._

The young teen closer her eyes thinking back to her brother, the whole situation with her brother just made her conflicted. Her parents would be questioning her and themselves after King's brash outburst, which in truth they should, she just wished he went about it in a much civil approach not by damning their mother and younger sister. _That Damn Idiot can't keep his anger in control._ Despite the drama Pepper is innocent through the whole thing, she doesn't deserve to be treated or talked about as such, it wasn't her fault their parents gave her more attention.

"Violet."

"Mhm," she responded not look up.

"You got a text message from Dad; it says 'come downstairs, just you.'" Pepper read out loud.

Violet perked up from the bed grabbing the phone from Pepper, pursing her lips into a tight frown as she read over the text. _I wonder if dad handles it okay_.

"I'll be right back Pepper; I have gone see what dad wants alright." Pepper nodded watching her sister walk out towards the door.

"When will you be back?" she whispered. She wished her sister would stay a bit longer; she had missed her company ever since she began working on this room project.

"I'm not sure Pep, but I promise it won't belong. Why don't you go ahead and take a bath and put on your PJ's, I'll bring some sandwiches whenever i come back alright." She gave her sister a peck on the cheek before dashing off in a rush.

Pepper let out a loud sigh as she was once again left alone in her room. She really missed Goku. "If dad doesn't get him in here soon, I'll go grab him myself," she muttered under her breath.

* * *

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As promised Violet came back, she looked upset. More upset than the last time. Her face was red and puffy faces as if she had been crying. It was clear that something was wrong. The atmosphere was more dreadful, neither of the sisters dared to talk to each other.

Pepper felt as if her sister would rather be alone at the moment than in her room, her frequent glances towards the door suggested it. She couldn't help but think somehow it was her to blame.

Pepper eating in silence with her sister, before climbing into her new bed. Violet slowly made her advances to her door, ready to exit the awkward feeling in the air. She had to say something.

"Violet," she whispered. Violet's hand stopped just as it was above the doorknob, pausing from escaping the room. "Yes, Pepper."

"Before you go could you tell is a story?" Pepper asks her sister so suddenly.

Violet turned to look at her sister who was cuddled up in her blankets; the tike had a desperate look on her face. The teenager sighed giving in to Pepper's silent plea, "Sure Pep." she responded turning back towards the bed.

A smile formed on the small girl's lips as Violet climbed into the bed," What type of story would you like to hear Kiddo?"

"Urm I dunno, I was hoping that you would come up with one," Pepper whispered twiddling her thumbs.

Violet smacks her lips in thought, there was plenty of story's to choose from to tell the youngster but she had a feeling that none would really acquire the girl's taste. "Oh well alright, I think I manage that...Have you ever heard of the story about the Celestial warriors?"

The raven-haired child blinked blankly as she sat up from her bed, "Celestial Warriors? What is that?"

"Celestial Warriors?" Violet repeated as if she should have known, "It's a story Dad used to tell me and Kingston when we were smaller." she tried to further explain in hopes that Pepper would recognize the name. By her clueless expression, it seemed that Pepper never heard of it, H-How do you not know it, Dad used to tell us theses story's all the time about the Celestial Warriors, I'm pretty sure he would have shared a story or two with you."

Again Pepper denied knowing any reconciliation of the story; Violet smacked her lips in shaking her head. _That's weird..._

"Could you tell me about Warrior people then? They sound kinda cool," she asked, her obsidian eyes sparkling a bit.

"Sure why not." she smiled a bit pecking her sister's forehead." I just have to pick a place where to start, there are so many story's to choose from... How about i start with origin story first." she muttered to herself. "Okay, I know what story to choose Pep."

Pepper snuggled in her blanket as Violet began to start off the bedtime story, she had never heard a bedtime story from her sister, and it was always somebody else tucking her in at night. Her mother would tell her stories about the princess and her father would stories of moral lessons with old fables. Goku would tell her stories of his crazy and adventurous past, which she loved the most, but since his temperate removal, she had succumbed to boring and drawn out nights. She was excited to Violet approach storytelling, something adventurous for once.

There once was a planet in farthest and deepest parts of space, much larger than any planet in our solar system for sure. The planet was brightly lit of the color's entire spectrum, a beautiful in a sort, it neighbors held contempt for how beautiful the planet was."

"That planet sounds like it would be fun. Did it have a name?" Violet rubbed her chin.

"I don't quite remember but I know it started with an 'S'. We'll just call it planet 'Sparkle' for now, since it's so pretty. But let's not worry about the planet for now; it will come into play later. Our story starts off with the story of the Celestial's, the Celestials were powerful beings that roamed the universe but were most of all peaceful beings which meant that they weren't prone to violence unlike the universe that surrounded them, there eighteen in total that existed. Anything that touched their hand was a masterpiece; anything they created was perfect to the tee despite them not being gods they were almost above divine. To the most part, the Celestials did their part in keeping harmony within the universe... a little good in fact." Pepper formed a little frown as Violet's tone started to turn grave.

"There was an attack on the Celestials, which killed all seventeen of the Celestials." Pepper let out a little gasp, jumping out of her blanket. "W-What!? Who attacked them?" Pepper exclaimed.

Violet shrugged her shoulder, "Their master, the reasoning is a bit unknown."

"Their Master sounds cruel if you ask me," Pepper added.

Violet chuckled, "Yeah he does, but don't fret I only said 17 died, there still one more that had survived. It was only by whelming that the Celestial escaped from her destruction leaving her as the last of her kind. Though she was spared by a miracle, she had nothing the lone Celestial was cast aside as her formal Master created new beings to replace the Celestial. With her purpose and only home stripped from her, the Celestial fled."

"She searched the universe for a long time, looking for a home wandering a midst if she would come against an enemy down the road. You see the Celestial was the youngest of her fallen kind so she didn't have much strength and very little knowledge of the universe."

"So she was lost." Pepper burrowed her brows, this story was a bit doleful than one her parents told her.

"Mhm, oh definitely. As the years went the little Celestial became doubtful that- he would ever find refuge, finally giving up on hope she took one last chance into a random Planet one night, that planet was-"

"Planet Sparkle?" Pepper asked cutting off her sister.

"Yes," she said giving Pepper a look for interrupting her again, Pepper was getting a little excited. "Like I stated before the planet was beautiful and much flourished but was also home of the most brutal and intense warriors of the universe. The warriors were rather known as savages with their intense battles but were most of all survivors. The warriors were split into three tribes; the tribes didn't always get along but kept their peace with each other, the third tribe mostly staying in isolation. The third leader's name was Tarragon. The leader of the third tribe came across the Celestial and took her in despite his races' cold nature; he was in awe by her beauty and power. The Celestial feared the leader, having lost trust in others a long time ago, and fret by the violence of the warrior, so the leader never stopped until finally the Celestial trusted Tarragon. Tarragon promised his loyalty and pride that he would not leave the girl's side knowing she would be great Allie to his tribe as well as his race. The leader taught the Celestial about their ways as well as how to use her power effectively.

The little Celestial became stronger, as she adapts the Warriors society and Cultural preferences casting aside her tranquil past beliefs. And to thank Tarragon's tribe the Celestial shared her power with Tarragon's tribe. The close friendship she formed with the tribe as well as Tarragon help prospers the warrior race into incredible power that rivaled everyone in the universe." Violet held a small smile as her sister let out a small yawn as she tried to stay awake; her raven-colored eyes drooped heavily.

"Did they get a good ending?" Pepper asked her drowsily.

Violet smacked her lips shaking her head, "Sadly no."

A frowned once again formed on Pepper's lip but she said nothing as Violet continued the story. After years of peace and growth between the Celestial and the warriors they have attacked again, the Celestial's past had come back for her because the Celestial had cast away her tranquil teachings. She was a threat to her new beliefs because of the evil that rested in her heart. The Celestial and all the warriors of Planet spark fought side by side against their attackers, but one by one they all fail until the one tribe left was Tarragons. It was at this point the Celestial couldn't bear to see any more lives lost, especially Tarragon and the rest of what remained of his race. The Celestial sacrificed herself to stop the bloodshed, to keep the beautiful Planet she came to love from dying, with her sacrifice she saved Planet Sparkle and Tarragons tribe.

"Tarragon heartbroken by his friend's death vowed that one day he would find a way back to the Celestial, no matter how long the chase took. It is said that Tarragon disappeared shortly into the midst universe."

Pepper rubbed her eyes as her sister finished the story, she found the story a bit unsatisfying but interesting to have an unlikely ending. The protagonist always had a happy ending no matter how the story started, right? I guess not, Violet did say that there were multiple stories about the Warriors; this is only the origin story.

Violet clapped her hands together in a tired smile, jumping off the bed in a fast manner. "Alright squirt, Story, done! Time to go to bed alright." The younger sibling huffed at Violet as she began tucking her in.

"Why do you have to leave?" Pepper asked before yawning.

"Because I have to Pep, just go to sleep for now alright." Violet gave Pepper a final peck on her forehead before leaving the room," Love you, night." she said quickly before cutting off the light and she closed the door.

The raven-haired girl stared at the door before sighing; she didn't want to be alone. His sister sudden rush made her suspicious like she didn't want to be around her any minute longer. The fact that she hadn't seen the rest of her family since early this afternoon was a bit burdensome and concerning. She never got to attend to the family meetings, saying it wasn't a child's place though they conversed with her in such mature tones.

She turned over in her bed facing the window's, watching the curtains move against the wind blowing through the half-opened windows. It wouldn't be too soon that she would have to close them for the winter; the cool weather that remained in the fall was fading fast. Pepper's lip quirked into a small smile, winter was Goku's favorite season. She chuckled with closed eye's thinking back how they had gotten to the topic and how he had tried to convenience her that winter was the best season of them all. Though he had thoroughly failed to get her to agree with him, she likes his arguments none the less.

"Silly Goku." she murmured before falling asleep.

Pepper was brought back from her dreams when soft whispering could be heard through her door. The child groggily rubbed her eyes, groaning audibly for her short-lived slumber, "What is that noise?" she muttered under her breath.

Someone, no some people were talking behind her bedroom and what seemed to be argument occurring discreetly. Now wide awake the little girl attempted to close in the conversation, her curiosity peaking. _What's going on?_ Pepper listened to the soft voices speaking behind her door, they were too low for her to recognize at first so Pepper sat still in her bed listening.

"What the hell Kingston! You have to hurry up and Go before Mom and Dad notice." _Violet?_

She received a low grunted by the other someone, "I know V, shit. Just let me do this for the brat and I'll be outta here."

Pepper could hear his sister let out an exasperated sigh, "Fine...Just please hurry up. Mom's gonna ground me big time if I get caught helping you." She heard Violet whisper anxiously. There was a pregnant pause before footsteps could be heard walking back downstairs, presumably Violet's, there was a pause again as her footsteps got further away.

Kingston let out a low subtle gruff, muttering something Pepper couldn't hear under his breath. Pepper buried herself into the covers as the doorknob to her room began to turn, Pepper tried to calm her breathing and racing heartbeat as Kingston stepped into her room. Using her natural gift of acting, she relaxed her face to pretend she was asleep.

Her ear's twitch hearing Kingston shuffle into her room, "I'm glad this damn thing is as light as it is..." she heard him mutter before hearing the instinctive sound of the door closing.

The hair on her neck rise a bit knowing her big brother was walking among her room, she felt excited and nervous at the same time. After the fiasco she had at School she had wanted to personally thank her brother for his help, though it seemed like rather apathetic attempts to encourage his sister, she was still thankful for his part. If not she probably has never learned to stand for herself. _I hope he likes my room, it all thanks to Kingston that I have it_. She wished silently.

Kingston continued to shuffle in the corner of her room as if he were struggling, _what is he doing?_ She asked she momentary kept blinking to catch a glimpse. He stood over near her room divider, he stood observant over they thong, his hands stuffed into the jacket pockets.

Kingston said nothing, choosing to stand in the middle still through inspecting her room, "Damn it, Pepper..." he cursed under his breath.

Suddenly Kingston turned his attention towards the 'sleeping 'Pepper, a small scoffing escaping his lips, striding over to Pepper's side of the bed. Pepper held her breath as her brother stood just above her, just staring in a blank apathetic gaze.

Pepper held her breath when she felt her brother's hand pat the dark locks of her hair, his touch was gentle, and Kingston was never this affectionate not for a long time anyway, he flinched whenever she started to breath normal again. Pepper frowned inwardly as he pulled away; she missed how nice her brother was.

"I wish I didn't hate you..." she heard him whisper out loud.

Her heart drooped to her feet, feeling something break deep within her. _Hate? Why would big brother hate me?_

Pepper wanted to rise from her thick soft comforter to make her brother repeat himself, afraid that she heard him loud and clear but a subtle knock on her door pulled her brother way.

"Kingston c'mon I found your keys!" she heard her sister whispered.

"..." Kingston gave one last look at Pepper sleeping form. Pursing his lips into a subtle thin line, "I'm coming." he replied after her, striding to the door in quick paces, exiting the room, again leaving Pepper alone.

Pepper stared at her door, listening to the footsteps disappear from her earshot. She felt her throat go dry thinking about Kingston.

The raven hair child says up from her bed, knowing it would a while until she would fall back asleep again. She shook her head in denial, her brother didn't hate her. He was just mad, right? Kingston always said mean things when he was upset she reasoned. The little girl that adored her brother didn't wasn't to believe what her brother just said. Why would he hate her? She was a good little girl. Right?

She sat in silence trying to dispelling the negative doubts in the back of her head, failing to hear something calling out her name. It wasn't until the voice yelled her name that she was pulled out of her thought. Pepper snapped her head towards the direction of the muffled voice with wild eyes, before she could question what she had heard she heard her name being called again. It was coming from the far side of the room, by the Room divider her father had a place in her room.

The room divider was a little out of place like someone had moved it. _Kingston._ She thought. Kingston must have been over there.

"Pepper! Can you hear me?" She heard again but this time the voice was more distinct and very recognizable. It was Goku's voice.

"G-Goku!" Pepper jumped out of her bed running over the other side of the room, flickering the little lamp to reveal Mirror she had been longed for. The mirror had a few differences; its frame was missing showing off the smooth clean-cut edges, it made the mirror looked sleek and slimmer than previously. Pepper's mouth gaped as relief washed over her.

"Goku! Your back!" Pepper hugged the tall glass mirror her tiny arm barely reaching the edges, she pressed her cheek against the mirror expecting it to be cold, but oddly enough it was...warm?

The girl was expecting a much need greeting from the mirror but instead received anxious questions rain down on her. "Pepper! Are you all alright? "Goku's voice was laced with worry and much concern. "Are you hurt?"

"Y-Yes.…and no?" It thrown the little girl off that her friend was upset, he was usually luckily and go-happy. "What's wrong?"

"Stay away from Kingston," he warned rather strongly.

Kingston?"Wh-"

"Just stay away from him! Do hear me!" He yelled, demanding sternly, his voice scaring the girl to listen. Pepper had never heard Goku raise his voice at her before, not in that deep tone anyway. She could have sworn that she felt the heat radiating off of the glass.

"O-Okay." Pepper sputtered weakly.

"If you see Kingston, run in the other direction. Alright. He is of danger to you." he repeated in a deep low voice, no mistaking anger laced behind it. Her friend was sounding more like an overly cautious parent than his usual self. The girl could only nod, remembering that Goku was still too an adult and it scared her. Pepper clenched the bottom of her gown, her ear's slowly turning red.

The man behind the mirror sighed realizing that he was slowly upsetting the girl, silently cursing himself for raising his voice at the girl. "P...Pepper...just please listen to me..." he reproached in a softer tone.

"Kingston... he said some very bad things..."

"B-But he says bad things all the time, how is this any different?" she asked quietly. She loved her brother why did she have to avoid him. The confusion from her brother, Goku, and Violet's behavior was tearing the little girl apart, her innocent ebony eyes began to water.

The man in the mirror quickly went to soothe the girl; he would feel terrible if caused any tears to fall from her beautiful eyes. "Sweetie just listen to me...I only want to protect you. I-I didn't mean to scare you. Alright... Kingston ...he has a dark aura."

Pepper stared at Goku shocked, "Dark? Like bad guy Dark?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," he confirmed, Pepper bit her lip. _A dark aura? He can't be serious, but Goku wouldn't lie. This must be serious; Goku wouldn't say that unless he was being serious. That must have been why Kingston had been sour around the house lately._ She thought believing the mirror.

"I-Is there any way we can fix him?"

The mirror shimmered as he let out a tired sigh, "I don't know Pep, that's why i want you to stay away from your brother for now on. Ok. Promise me you'll stay away from him."

"Okay, I promise, I-I trust you Goku." Pepper wiped her eyes of the tears that threaten to escape.

"I will always protect you no matter what Pepper, your mine to protect always and forever."

* * *

"I can't believe this..." she muttered under breath.

Nothing was working; she had searched every scroll there was to be searched for it. Neither a hint nor clue came up. It was bad enough that she couldn't exactly ask anyone but her close companions for help, if any of the higher deity's found out she lost one of the most Paramount items in the universe she was done for, her very existence, as well as the omniverse, were at stake.

She was the keeper of time for fuck's sake, there was no telling what would happen if word got out that she had lost the item because of her carelessness, Panic and chaos would spread like wildfire throughout the 12 universes, it would be nothing like the last time the other matching item went missing.

After the first Omniscient shard went missing Chronoa was one of the few chosen to keep the other half from falling into the wrong hands? Thankfully she had time to spare, thanks to her backup plan she had set up some years ago afraid this day would come, and to her luck, her sources had nothing to report of any abnormalities.

The short deity ran her hand through her pink hair; her eyes drooping from exhaustion from lack of sleep. "I need to get to the bottom of this, for i fear not even getting whipped from existence will be far worse fate then what is about to come."


	4. Reflected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper pursed her lips into a small frown as she could see hear her bus driver yelling above her kids and overall above her music.
> 
> I wish Violet didn't have class today, I Fucking hate the bus.
> 
> Suddenly the bus came to a screeching halt sending Pepper into the back of the seat in front of her, a loud collective of groans ranged throughout the bus. Pepper sat back up gritting her teeth, "It's every day with this bull shit!" Pepper folded her arms while her slightly overweight bus driver stepped into the aisle, his pudgy face red of anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo i totally did not forget to post this (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ  
> Anyways don't hate me and pls enjoy this chapter.

I remember the calm before the storm, it was full of dread and unspoken misguided grudge's. One child's lack of acknowledgment led to another's burden of chastisement. It was a period in my life when i realized the days as a child were numbered, the wait was antagonizing.

I wish I didn't keep count and just enjoyed my last days because the day I realized I was no longer a child was the day you show me how far you would go and how much I've grown.

* * *

It was the wee hours of the morning when a young preteen found herself In the bathroom looking at her reflection as he did her hair. Pepper held a hairpin in her mouth as she fixed her hair into two neat buns, her thick dark hair was really hard to pin up sometimes.

Pepper placed the last pin to her hair with a satisfied nod, she walked back to her footstool at the side of her bed to put on the remainder of her school uniform. Pepper held the urge to fall back into her bed and go to sleep, she was sure as hell didn't feel amped to go to school.

Letting out a yawn she went over to her full-length mirror to check out herself for any errors in her dress, she pursed her lips into a soft smile, she looked good.

She let her hand linger in the glass for a bit waiting for a reaction that she knew was never going to happen, it had been nearly four years since the last she heard from him. She had never used an alarm clock before until the last four years, Goku would wake her up to be ready for school then wait for her to return.

The preteen just shook her head as grabbed her jacket and her bag as she walked out of her room, she could already smell breakfast had been prepared at the table.

She walked to the kitchen to see her father eating at the table alone, she smiled slightly at the sight of her father walking up to him to peck the side of his cheek, "Morning Daddy." She swiped a waffle covered in strawberries, stuffing it into her mouth, "and thank you."

Her father just glared playfully whilst flickering her nose, "You're always eating my freaking food Banana." The blond-haired father looked at his daughter slightly peeved but amused at his youngest.

Archie patted the seat next to him for his daughter to sit, Pepper took a seat happily next to her father, focusing on her own plate, "Soo Daddy, whom exactly is taking me to school, Violet or Mom?"

Her father shook his head as he continued to eat his breakfast, Pepper raised an eyebrow, "if not those two... then it must be you?"

The blond-haired man continued his breakfast sighing softly, Pepper took this as a no. The raven-haired girl began to frown as she watched her father try to come up with words to explain her lack of a ride again, though she already knew some of the main reasons why. Her sister had stopped taking her school a while ago because of the long distances between her college and Pepper going to her middle school, it was the same instance with her mother. Her mother had gotten a different job location on the whole other side of town so it was rare in between when she would take her, and her father just didn't like getting in the school traffic, he was just lazy.

With the lack of a car and driver licenses, she was forced to partake a school bus for the past few weeks, which had not been the best experience.

"Pepper we've already been over this, you got to take the bus."

Peppers head flopped on the table a loud dramatic groan, "It smells like weed and kids going through puberty." Her father nearly choked on his food laughing,"That could be a problem... but that's life kiddo." Pepper let out a more dragged out groan, she knew the other reason why her father also "highly recommend" her to ride the yellow bus, he wanted Pepper to be more sociable. Pepper didn't know how riding a Fucking bus would help, cause she secluded herself in the back of the bus with her headphones in her ears anyway.

She socialized enough at school with her friends, made very good grades, and was even a tutor, also making money under the table if any high schools asked for her personally to tutor unbeknownst to her parents.

The teen wanted to scream but did otherwise because she was better than that. She put on her puppy dog eyes and stared intensely at her father, Archie covered his face to prevent being a pawn of Pepper's adorableness.

"Aww Damn it Banana...that's a dirty move!" Pepper giggled in a mischievous manner as her father was being subdued to her will. Sadly it was cut short by an abrupt honking horn, both father and daughter turned their heads to the door, both with opposite expressions one of happiness and the other of terror. Her father quickly gathered his petite size daughter and her bag into his arms quickly rushing her out the front door.

Pepper felt her father kiss the top of her forehead before hearing him shutting the door. Did her father just toss her out the house?!

The horn honked again to remind her to get on the bus. Pepper dropped her puppy dog eyes she panicking,

"Aww please, Daddy I don't wanna go on the Stinky and loud bus, please."

Her father's blue eyes peeled throughout the blinds, "Don't worry sweetie it's for your own good, go socialize and have fun, love you, Pepper."

"I love you too daddy..."Pepper growled as she turned down the driveway to the bus.

She didn't know where her father got the idea that she wasn't sociable, for instance, she had a slumber party planned for the next weekend coming up, her older friends were coming over, which she was excited for. Her father on the other hand had challenged her to invite someone new for a change, to make new friends. She wasn't opposed to the idea in truth, just a little peeved by the reason behind it.

A raven haired preteen rolled her eyes at the front commotion of the bus, there was a point in her life where she respected how her older fellow classmates behaved, but now that respect had dwindled down. Pepper sat amongst herself in the back, she was trying to focus on the music in her headphones to block out the louder voices. It was currently failing.

Pepper pursed her lips into a small frown as she could see hear her bus driver yelling above her kids and overall above her music.

_I wish Violet didn't have class today, I Fucking hate the bus._

Suddenly the bus came to a screeching halt sending Pepper into the back of the seat in front of her, a loud collective of groans ranged throughout the bus. Pepper sat back up gritting her teeth, "It's every day with this bull shit!" Pepper folded her arms while her slightly overweight bus driver stepped into the aisle, his pudgy face red of anger.

The teen took one of earphones out to loosely listen to his rant, she knew that her presence had little to do with the current squabble that had enraged him on the first place but Pepper was ultimately under his radar because of her older brothers record of bus conflict, with this driver in particular.

Pepper was too young to remember Kingston's behavior towards the people around the school, it must have been a very negative reflection he perceived because it is sure as hell got under her skin when others compared her to King.

It been almost four years since she seen Kingston that day, the house was much quieter, to say the least, there was a bitter taste left from that day, her family not as joined as they once were.

Pepper opened one eye she heard her name being called, it wasn't directly to her though, it was the bus driver mentioning her name to one of her fellow bus mates.

"She sits in the very back, go sit next to her."

Pepper instantly sat up from her seat, did the bus driver just tell someone to sit next to her? She groaned internally and just hoped that whoever was sitting next to didn't get on her Damn nerves. Pepper tighten the strings to her hoodie to enclose her whole face, placing her bag into her lap as she faced the window side, she wasn't a morning person.

She felt the presence of someone taking a seat next to her, and thankfully they were just as displeased with the seating arrangement as who it was sat at the very edge of her seat.

_Distance yay._

Pepper didn't know anyone in particular on the bus other than the kids who lived on her street, so it was a low chance that she knew who was sitting next to her.

Unknowing to hear the person next to her knew her.

. . . . . .

It was nearing the end of school with only an Hour left for the student to get homework and studying down before the day would end, Pepper was heading to the library to meet up with her new tutor session with a new classmate.

Pepper went to her location requested by the anonymous person. When pepper would post a new opening she put in her ads that she rather keep the request anonymous whenever they drop them off at her locker.

The people who were tutors throughout the school were given a metal slip box that had a magnet on the back, so they could get their request.

In the request form, the anonymous person stated that they were new to the school and needed help with math and English homework.

Pepper had placed her bag down on the ground while getting some supplies for her session as she waited for the person, Pepper tended to get ready a little early.

Shortly after a few minutes, a few people walked into the library, the group slowly separated into it own directions with only one girl heading her way.

The girl was about her age, the first thing that caught Pepper eyes was the young teenager's hair, she had a beautiful shade of rose gold hair cut into an angled bob cut. The girl had on a neon-bright blue crop top sweater with a skull and crossbones pattern all over on and a pair of ripped black high waisted jeans. She had an edgy and reckless vibe about her. The girl had her backpack behind her with a neutral smile on her face. Pepper couldn't help but look at the girl. She definitely looked out of place compared to students around her. The school recommends that students should wear the uniforms provided but it was also not forced, so students could wear whatever as long as you had on your student I.D. name tags on, most students just kept the shirt and tie, but not this girl.

Pepper exchanged a handshake with the girl as they took a seat, Pepper offered her a genuine smile as she introduced herself, "Hello I'm guessing your one who requested a tutor?"

The bob wearing haired teen shook her head, " Yeah, I just got transferred over here from another school, and I realized a week of being here that this school is a bit more advanced than I remembered it being."

Pepper raised a brow, " Remember? You wrote on the request that you were new to our school."

The teen shakes her hand sideways, " Eh, yes, and no. I use to attend the elementary school I moved around the beginning of my third-grade year."

"Oh well welcome back, My name is Pepper I hope I can help you get caught up." The girl across from her smiled brightly, "Oh yeah I know who you are, I had sat next to you this morning on the bus."

Pepper felt her cheeks rested on a bit.

"Oh that was you, oh I'm so sorry for ignoring you, I usually sit by self, and plus I'm a not morning person." The girl waved her hand to keep the girl from apologizing, "No that's alright Pepper, if anything I need to be apologizing. I know you may not recognize me cause it been about four years, but my name is Annie. We use to have classes together In second grade. "

Pepper choked on the air, Pepper got up from where she was sitting at reaching over the table to look closer at the person across. "A-Annie...as an Annabelle Par..."

The girl nodded shyly as she confirmed that she was indeed the same little girl from second grade who terrorized her.

Annie was right about her not being recognizable her, pepper remembered the little girl that would purposely jump her with her little clique, this Annie looked like nothing she imagined her to be.

Pepper could see Annie become flustered as raven haired teen examined her, yet another thing that didn't suit her. "The memory of my past came rushing back to me when I seen you getting on the bus two weeks ago. I've her meaning to come to you personally and apologize for what I did... I was just too afraid, afraid that you would reject and hate me more than you already did." Annie, not her lip when making direct eye contact with Pepper, "I'm sorry Pepper that I bullied you and for the overall being an asshole. I deserved what happens to me, it was a wake-up call on all types of levels, I'm embarrassed to even think that was me, cause I've changed a whole lot since those years and I wanted you to know that." Pepper sat there quietly after Annie finished apologizing. She remembered one of the many lessons Goku taught her when it came to lying, to look for physical clues when a person is talking, Annie was constantly chewing in her bottom lip and averting her eyes in a nervous manner, but towards the end, she looked back up making direct eye contact. She was telling the truth, now the only thing was done she believes her.

Annie waited very anxiously for pepper to accept or just react, the Burnett thought forthrightly at the situation in front of her. She was no longer eight years old and neither was Annie, she was right when she said a lot had changed.

Everybody deserves a second chance. She could hear Goku whispering In the back of her head.

"If it's not too much I would like to be friends instead of the girl who used to be a dumb bully." Annie tucked a rose gold hair behind her ear in a nervous manner.

Pepper held her hand out, with a smile growing on her lips, "I believe that is capable Annie, everyone deserves a second chance." She supposed that there would be a tinge of resentment left in her, Annie was a pretty aggressive bully but then again so was her beat down Annie got. She was really proud that her hard work actually did something.

Annie awkwardly shook her hand smiling feverishly, " For a second there I thought you were gonna say no...hehe that would have made this tutor session a little awkward." Pepper chuckled, "To be fair it kinda is already, but fortunately I work well in such situations."

Annie scratched the top of her head chuckling softly with Pepper, "Okay Annie about that classwork..."

* * *

**LG**

_Your foolish to think that he'll spare us in exchange for your imprisonment. Beerus is a malicious god, you really think he'll keep your Damn promise!_

_"No, but I can't just sit behind the sidelines and let your people be slaughtered for my freedom...it was never an easy brisk to stay unscathed by Omni King, it was only a matter of time...I was destined to die, not your people not this planet..."_

_...Fuck the Gods! You're not doing this, our people, your people will fight to the end of our days!_

_"_

_...Tarragon don't ... your people and your planet don't deserve my punishment...I will surrender.."_

_So that's it? You're just going to give up? Where is your pride, your power is unfathomable to the power of destruction...Olvanii..._

_"...Tarragon you're clouded by your own personal emotions, let alone your pride...worry for your people, not me..."_

_If you think this is going to be goodbye-_

_"... Tarragon I never said this was goodbye...the power I shared with your tribe and gave you will one-day show universe who reigns supreme...this is only a goodbye for now..."_

* * *

**LG**

**LATER IN TWO WEEKS ...**

"What's the big deal Pepper?" Groaning Violet took a seat next to her parents who also seated on the couch, Pepper just smiled brightly while her eyes screamed for her to just sit down at her sister. "I have to get started on my homework for my English class Pep." Violet can see a nervous eye twitch coming from Pepper as she stood in front of her family members. The youngest of the family picked up candy corn throwing it at her sister for her to hush. Octavia chuckled lightly watching her daughters glare childishly at each other.

"Well V it will only be a second before you can get started on your 'college homework' if you just listen to what I have to say."

Her mother gave Violet a side-eye look to let Pepper continued, "Go ahead Pepper I won't interrupt anymore."

The preteen took the apology as she began, "Thank you... like Violet, mom, and dad, you're also wondering why I brought you all here today. The first thing is before I start is that I would like to thank you for being supportive and trusting throughout my life, wouldn't trade anything in the world for you guys, I love you..." A heavy gush of red-painted over her cheeks as she spoke, three loud audible 'aww' coming from the three. Pepper cleared her throat to get their attention, she looked directly at her father as she spoke.

"Um, dad last week you told me that I should make a new friend and invite them to my sleepover."

Archie nodded, "and did you?" He asked her back.

Pepper released an awkward laugh, "See... about that...I did buuttt ...oh your gonna love this... its someone I knew from my past, so technically it isn't a new person but it is cause we're just now becoming friend's...and surprisingly very good ones but als **-"**

"Pepper sweetie you're rambling..." her mother politely cut her off, her daughter a slight smile as she nodded clearly nervous about something.

"My new friend is Annie Par."

All set of blue eyes just blinked blankly at her full of confusion, "..ok.."

Pepper sighed heavily, placing a palm on the top of her forehead. Of course, they wouldn't know, why would they? She thought sarcastically. Pepper sighed with the rising of nervousness growing, she was trying to warn her family about Annie's presence, so they wouldn't go ballistic, mainly her mother. She remembered how quite livid her mother was when she was called to the school a couple of years ago. She was sure Octavia would feel a lot less lot filter about dropkick Annie even though she had turned a new leaf.

She would like to very much avoid a violent hash out involving her mom.

"Annie is the girl that used to bully me when I was smaller..."

That seemed to make a light bulb pop up in their brains, one by one their baby blue eyes enlarged gasping as they put two and two together.

"You see what the big deal is?" Pepper asked sarcastically, her father and sister just 'oh'd while her mother had the erratic reaction between the three, standing up with a deadly proactive glare, "She's coming here!?"

Oh god, Pepper mentally groaned.

Pepper waved her hands at her mother, "Calm down mom, Annie is coming over because she is my friend now. We came to a peace offering and put our past behind us, and we're becoming good friends I decided to invite her to the slumber party."

Octavia pursed her lips, "And why is that?" Her mother seemed to be more unnerved by Annie's presence than anyone in the whole room.

Pepper twiddle her thumbs nervously, "Well mom to answers that..." she turned her father and pointed, " Daddy said I was socially awkward and challenged me to bring a new friend."

Her father gasp nervously when Pepper accused him, his wife turning her heated glare towards her new victim. "Honey I swear I did-"

"Yeah you did daddy, you said I quote 'Pepper you lack social skills for a successful life, I would find it great if you now tried to find a new friend so your not as awkward, as well as taking the 'school bus' for now on.' end quote. Remember." Pepper interrupted before he had the chance to save his hide, she was going to get her father back for making her ride the bus when she really didn't need to. Though she should be thanking her father because she found it now rather enjoyable with someone to talk to but that was beside the point.

"Dad is that why you haven't been driving her, I thought you were just lazy, to be honest..." Violet said.

"No he's an idiot, Pepper is perfectly fine with her social skills she didn't need to make a new friend to prove that, especially with that 'girl's who is now coming to my house after all she'-"

"No mom it's ok." She interrupted her mother, "She apologized and I forgave her, I wasn't pressurized too, it was just me and her at a tutor session."

"B-But sweetie what if she is just trying to get back at you?"

A mental sweatdrop appeared on her head as Pepper gave her mother a look, "Mom we were eight years old back then, I don't think she's going to hold a grudge for four years, she said that there were no hard feelings, and i as well. I have been thinking over this for about two weeks as we have gotten to know each other. I truly believe that she is a better person and going to be a great friend."

Her mother's mouth moved to speak but ultimately she just gave up, she knew pepper wasn't a naive preteen and could easily read people for age which she got from Octavia plus her daughter had really good points and a great sense of something was iffy. Her daughter had grown exponentially through the whole stage of puberty she had to trust her daughter.

Octavia bitterly held her tongue as Pepper continued, " I would like it if you guys don't act weird around my friends especially Annie, nothing bad is going to happen. But if anything does happen please note that I can wreck her shit just like in second grade." She said with a smile on face ignoring the disapproving looks from her parents for cursing.

Violet shrugged her shoulders as she got up from where she was sitting," I'm cool with that Pepper, I rather you make friends then enemies, I don't know about mom and dad but I'm proud pepper." She ruffled Pepper's hair as she strolled past her, "and I'm off to do my homework."

Pepper shook her head as she turned to her parents, "Please momma I just need this to work out, she's changed a lot." Her father nudged his wife making the blond hair woman grunt.

"I'll trust your word Pepper but if anything goes wrong ...Remember I won't hesitate." She wanted. Pepper nodded happy that her mother was willing to comply, her father simply gave her yes with little to say as she was afraid what his wife would after she found out why Pepper was riding the bus.

As spoke to thank her parents the sound of the doorbell could be heard from the living room. Pepper smiled brightly as she knew exactly who had come.

"Pepper, I thought the slumber party started at 2 its only 12...a little early isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I told Annie that she could come early because she lives at the end of the road."

"W-WHEN?!" her mother exclaimed as Pepper walked to the front door, "A couple of weeks ago, please act like you promised momma."

Pepper tried to ignore her mother's tantrum from the background as her father dragged her away so she wouldn't frighten the guest.

The preteen smiled as she opened the door, Annie instantly smiled, "Hey pep."

"Hey Annie, like to come in."

The other girl grinned as she stepped in, " Your house is Fucking huge! Jesus." Pepper chuckled at the compliment, "um thanks."

Pepper began the tour around her house as she usually did whenever she brought a friend over to the house and greeting the rest of the family which she would wait on doing until her mother was cooled down enough for that. Pepper couldn't remember the last time Violet brought friends over or even had a slumber party at the house, her social events were always away. And Kingston never bothered as well, she assumed there was a reasoning behind it.

In the past two weeks, Pepper had gotten to know Annie a little better considering she was trying to be her friend. It helped that they were around the same age could relate to her about middle-schooler stuff. Her older friends truly didn't care about middle school compared to high school, which she couldn't really blame them but now she had Annie. Annie didn't manage to link up with her old pals nor did she wanted too, so she just hanged around Pepper, and plus she found out that they had more in common than she thought.

Pepper lead Annie to the stairs, "and up here is my bedroom and some other rooms that are gonna get renovated.."

Annie pulled observed the smaller girl as she made her way to her bedroom, inhaling the sudden smell pineapple and vanilla in the air. "What's that smell? "

"Oh its the room air fresheners I have in my room, do you like them?"

She could hear Annie hum in agreement, she looked at the family pictures with a sigh, so wondered how her brother would react to this relationship.

Pepper opened and held it so Annie could walk into her bedroom, the preteen walked to the center of her room and began observing Peppers room.

"Y-Your room is huge..."

"Yeah, it used to be cluttered with a bunch of old junk before my dad renovated it for me. " Pepper began to rearrange a couple of her items out the way so her room wouldn't look messy for her company, she had meant to do that earlier but the talk about Annie coming overtook a little longer than she wanted.

Annie looked up at some family photos around her bookshelf, " And like I predicted Peppers a 'Daddy's Girl'?"

Pepper held back a blush, "Sorta..."

Annie chuckled catching the blush on her cheeks, "Aww doesn't worry I'm a bit of one too sorta, I'm not the exact perfect dime my father wants me to be but our relationship is way better than the one I have with my mom." Pepper stood beside Annie as she took one picture down to look at it more closely, she pointed to her father, "This is my Dad."

Annie scrunched up her nose, "For real?"

"Yeah...what's wrong does he look bad or something?"

Annie shook her head apologizing, "No its just, he just ... looks really Fucking young, like he should be your older brother instead of your daddy, like hot Damn. Did your dad have some work done?"

"N-No, my dad just has really good genetics, and he takes care of his body. " Annie eyed her, "Mkay...I don't say this often but Damn your dad is a DILF."

Pepper playfully gagged, "You're like the fourth person to say that eww. "

Annie giggled as she continued to look at the rest of the family, " The woman with the long hair is your mother and short hair is your sister Violet...just Damn."

Pepper raised a brow, "What?"

"Everyone in your family is banging! Man whenever we hit puberty the guys won't know what hit them."

Pepper flipped her hair At the compliment, fluttering her eyes dramatically, "Oh why thank you, as I told you it's all about the genes."

Annie laughed as she places the picture frame back, she stood back looking at the others before she spoke, " You guys look like a very happy family."

Pepper smile lightly, "We have our issues...but for the most part we are happy, could be happier but shit happens..."

Annie stayed silent knowing there something more under what she said, they had both exchanged personal stories on the little time they had to introduce themselves. She knew it had something to deal with the lack of her older brother, she mentioned little about him. Annie didn't bother to go meddling into it knowing it would make Pepper uncomfortable.

Annie glanced to the other side of the room as a sparkling light caught her eye, it was coming from the other side of the room behind the room divider. It was a pretty sparkling effect, she doesn't know how she didn't catch that when she walked in the room," That's cool how you have lighting behind the room divider."

Pepper looked up from the picture, "What?" She said off guard.

Annie pointed to the source of the light, "The lightning, you have some type of Christmas light bulbs back there?"

Peppers' eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw what Annie was looking at or what she thought she was seeing.

_OH MY GAWD! OF ALL TIMES?!_

Pepper laughed nervously, "Hehe, yeah. I bought those a while ago.. c-cool right?" She lied, not noticing her odd behavior Annie continued to walk around. Pepper's nerves were on ten as she kept her eyes locked on the corner, thankfully Annie didn't bother to walk over there and investigate.

"Pepper you have a really cool room, I don't have nearly as much shit as you have, your sister must be jealous at the space you have." The raven-haired preteen clicked her tongue angst her teeth, "It was actually my brother more than my sister..."

Annie only responded with an awkward 'oh' thinking that she accidentally touched a wound, there was a pregnant pause as Pepper was concentrated a certain someone unbeknownst to Annie. The pink-haired girl excused herself to go to the bathroom downstairs, Pepper nodded giving her directions so she wouldn't get lost even though she had a bathroom in her room that Annie wasn't aware of.

Once she slips out the room Pepper locked the door and dashed over to the mirror, it was very much sparking brightly than it had for the past four years.

Hesitantly Pepper placed her hand against the mirror, the glimmering surrounded the surface of her hand, the glowing intensified around the shape of her hand before rippling out all over. She slowly pulled away from the smooth surface. Pepper licked her lips in anticipation, she was nervous to hear his voice again. "...Hello..." she whispered.

"...Pepper...?" She heard Goku's voice whispers out, Pepper somewhat shudders at his voice, she had forgotten how it used to sound like. Pepper started to shyly smile, " Goku..."

"Y-You look older..." Pepper looked down at her own appearance, she did look older from the eight-year-old he had left behind. She was a tad taller and began to grow into her older features visually and physically since she was nearing the stages of puberty. He must have expected to see the same little girl with pigtails and bows.

The last day she last heard from him was say before her ninth birthday, that day was one of her least memorable ones. Pepper put her hands on her hips, "It's been about four years Goku, how old did you expect me to be? " She said a bit sarcastically.

" ...9?.." she heard the man say nervously, Pepper couldn't help but scoff a little, "...I take that as a no then...13.." Pepper wonder if time passes through differently in his realm, that maybe he went off a day or two in his world and time just perceived it as a couple of years on her side.

"Not in a few months ...you know you've been gone a really long time... I really do hope that you have a good explanation for your sudden disappearance Goku." She had a slight attitude with the man as much as she was overall happy he came back she was also hurt.

His chuckle vibrated off the mirror it had a very humorous vibe to it, he just found her peeved behavior adorable, even after four years she lacked the effect to look menacing.

"Well, a lot did happen... For starters, I died..."

" W-What? ...how, why did this happen?! How are you speaking to me?!" Death would explain Aa lot of why he was missing.

Goku quickly began to reassure the girl, " I got wished back by the Dragon Balls, then I went to fight off the Saiyans that where coming to attack earth-" Pepper interrupted the man with the mirror as tried unpack his stories, and she lacked the time to hear his stories, unfortunately.

"Goku, Goku I can't listen to anything you have to say at the moment, I Kind of have guest over for a slumber party...Annie should be coming back upstairs in a few.."

The pause of silence lingered before Goku sighed from the other side of the mirror, "Uhh well..., what about later... will you be available at night..." there were a lot of stories she wanted to exchange with Goku and hear what kept him away for so long. She was sure that he would be proud of her recent development with Annie, he was all for making your enemies your friend.

The preteen nodded smiling at the mirror, " Yes, everyone should be asleep by 11 so I'll be ready to listen to 'EVERYTHING', I can't tell you how much I missed you...things have been so different without you..." Pepper placed her forehead on the glass closing her eyes tightly, "Can you promise not to go anywhere...pinky promise?"

The glass glowed brightly to her desperate plea, " I will I promise Pepper..."

With a light smile she tilted her head up and brought her lips onto the glass for a small kiss, it caught the man in the mirror off guard. "I'll see you later tonight Goku." She skipped passed the room divider to get the door, missing Goku's whisper of a goodbye.

* * *

**LG**

Charona marked another day on her calendar, days and days have gone by and still, the Omniscient shard was still out there missing. The time goddess felt the weight on her shoulders grow heavier as her search became fruitless, where could the timeless artifact go to?

The anticipation of what was to come was killing her, she feared that couldn't keep the issue under wraps if she planned on finding the missing shard.

She still kept receiving reports from the outside source who mainly had nothing but positive feedback for her. It was her only reassurance in the whole fiasco because not even the gods knew of her back up plan, she had taken it upon herself to separate the most important part of the deadly puzzle.

The only person who was someone what aware of the situation was a mortal that had to meddle in time just as much as she had, which it was against such laws to do unbeknownst him when he broke them, but since being aware of his actions he had been paying off his debt by working with her and anything time warp related.

Charona pursed her lips in thought, she didn't know if this was it would do any good involving the individual but with her hands tied could she really afford not to?

She had to request his help, there was no one more required than him. With time being a loose subject as it slipped out her reach the days went on to a deathly deadline.

The deity twiddles her thumbs as she thought over the many ways this situation would end, she needed hope if she wanted to keep life itself existing.

She clicked on the intercom on her desk, " Trunks we have a situation..."


	5. Love is parallel to evil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love and evil are two separate things, right? That is what we are told to believe, and sadly we are victims of this false claim. They are so parallel as they feed off each other to grow stronger, Love can seduce evil, and Evil love's 'Love'. Love can kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waring: like i mention last chapter, the depressing and dark plot begins in this chapter. Murder and mentions of sexual assult

Love and evil are two separate things, right? That is what we are told to believe, and sadly we are victims to this false claim. They are so parallel as they feed off each other to grow stronger, Love can seduce evil, and Evil love's 'Love'. As Love can kill.

* * *

Pepper laughed as she listens to Goku talk about his day, she sat in front of her mirror in her pajamas, a bowl of snacks on the side with her pillow bunched up in her arms.

It had been a year and a half since Goku had returned and stayed as he had promised, he whole lot to her and that he did.

Apparently he was Alien, a 'Saiyan' to be exact which somewhat made sense for the unexplainable strength he had, she told him he was like Superman but much more extreme.

He fought a lizard overLord who honestly sounded like E.T. Hitler from Goku's perspective, the guy had taken over and killed many races, including Goku's home planet. Probably ruled some of the galaxies.

He then went on to tell her about his transformation that made him turn into a blonde, cool.

And some kid from the future, who Bulma's and that evil guy...Vegeta's kid. He said that they needed to train to fight some cyborgs.

"So you and Piccolo learned how to drive today... that just makes me laugh imagining you two behind wheels. Hehe." The mirror sparked as he laughs along with her.

"I can't wait to learn how to drive, maybe I and Annie could be like you and Piccolo zooming down the streets no regard for the pedestrians." Goku sweat dropped behind the glass, "You make it sound like a bad thing.."

Pepper grinned, "If I'm honest the way you described it sounded very dangerous."

" ...Okay if you say.."

Pepper smiled things were going great for her, for example, her family had come to finally except Annie as a changed person, at least few times of the week she would come over for dinner and spend the night, she came over so much to study that Pepper had to pick up another person to study since she did her homework after hours with pepper. She had gotten the girl into writing short stories and acting them out for fun, Pepper would always have it centered around one of Goku's fights, while Annie made parodies of soap operas. It might have seemed odd to everyone else but the girls found it silly. But recently her behavior was off.

Goku would watch from afar in the mirror and watch her interact, he found an odd responsibility to keep an eye out.

"Annie should be here in a few minutes, I haven't seen her since last Wednesday... " she said suddenly as she checked her phone, she was a little worried that Annie was going to cancel coming over as she had over the past few days. She needed to talk to her cause something was bothering Annie.

"Pepper have you noticed how she was acting lately..." he asked voicing the concern she had yet to say out loud.

"...She seemed upset about something...I thought it had something to deal with what our last conversation was about...but she said it wasn't that..."

" ...Problems at home then?" Pepper shrugged.

"It might, but still think what I told peeved her a bit.."

"Well, what did you say?..." Pepper twiddle her thumbs a bit, she really hadn't planned on telling Goku because she told certain private subject between her and Annie. The heat started to rise on her light olive skin, it just made her want to shake those feelings out of her head.

" Well, I sorta canceled our movie night which was scheduled for tomorrow...for a boy." She averted her eyes as she waited for a response from Goku.

"A boy?...like a d-DATE! SINCE WHEN?!" Goku exclaimed making the preteen stuff her head into the pillow in her arms, she wanted to snuff out the redness in her face.

"Your acting just like Dad... It's not even that big of a deal.." she muffled from the pillow.

"I definitely see why she's upset, hell even I'm upset! You're not supposed to be dating!" She heard Goku scream dramatically. Pepper frowned a bit up from her pillow, "I'm thirteen going on fourteen, I'm old enough and well over mature physically and mentally..." she told up as she argued back, she had no longer looked like a baby preteen, her body had begun to develop her hips and curves. Annie had said when she would hit puberty that it would hit her like a truck. "It's just a little movie date, Ramen is a nice guy."

" ..oh so his name is Ramen, sounds like a weakling..." she heard him bitterly bite out.

Pepper stood with her hand in her hips watching the mirror with mid surprise expression, she hadn't expected Goku to be so upset let alone say that comment.

" ... he's not weak Goku, he's actually on the High school swimming team and had muscles to go along with it."

"High school! How old is he, Pepper?!" He asked dramatically, he held a tinge hostility in the base of his voice. Pepper raised a brow at sudden behavior he was reflecting, she honest to for angry...wait for no jealous? Jealousy was something she never thought she sees in Goku of all people.

A smirk suddenly appeared on her lips, " Oh he's about 16, he a license and a car to match." Turned her head away to hide her grin, " He told me that I had such a pretty pair of eyes, said it reminded him of the deep shade of an onyx orb. It was so romantic..." She said in a soft head over heals voice.

Pepper was kind of reaching as she kept spewing romantic lines from the short stories Annie had written in the past. She could hear Goku growling lightly in the background but ignore him as she took off on the high she was getting by having control, she didn't know why but she liked to irritate the Saiyan, all he could do was watch.

"...I need to go." He muttered. Pepper felt the smirk fall off her face when he said that.

" Aww, Goku please don't... I was just teasing..." She pleaded, but it was too late as his presence had disappeared from the mirror. Pepper pursed her lips as the little high she had left her ego.

Pepper sighed, " I got a little to carried away with that." She fell back on her pillow with a frantic sigh, she was alone in her room again.

She checked her phone again, there was two messages but nothing was on her screen that belonged to Annie. Pepper was slightly disappointed at the way the night was going, the teenager looked up from her seat when heard someone knock in her door before entering. Pepper lightly rolled her eyes, her family members tended to walk in without consent.

It was Violet who had walked in, "You know V, knocking servers the purpose so I can allow you to walk in..."

Violet thumped her head as she took a seat across her sister, "I don't need authority, I'm your big sister."

"Bull shit." She muttered as she rubbed the sore spot, " So... is there a reason you came to my room?"

Violet didn't answer right away she began tuning her hands through Pepper dark hair, her sister had done this a lot when she was much smaller she always said her hair was pretty. " Annie called the house phone...said she couldn't make it." Pepper's shoulders fell as she heard the news, she didn't even try to call her personally cause she knew Pepper didn't use the house phone.

"She's avoiding me..."

Violet silently began to braid her hair, " She sounded like she been crying...are you sure it isn't something else? "

" I think so...I should cancel that date then huh?" She said quietly.

"No, don't do that...you should still go on the date, it would be a great experience for you. Just try to find a way to make it to Annie, isn't her birthday coming up soon?" Pepper nodded.

"Yeah, but her parents don't really celebrate like that...I can make her cake or maybe ask mom if we could take a trip..." Pepper glanced back towards her sister, "you think that would work ?"

Violet pursed her lips," Maybe, you have to ask her first. Just don't dwell in it too much, you shouldn't guilt-trip yourself into back out of the date."

Pepper nodded, "You nervous?"

"A little, mainly because he's an older guy, he probably has more experience in dating."

Violet nodded silently as she moved a hair from her sister's face, "First date jitters, I got that too when I first started dating. I can do your hair and make up for you if want, I know much you stress over your hair..."

Pepper chuckled knowing her sister was right about her impatient tendencies.

"Yeah, I already have my outfit picked out just not what to do with my freaking hair. I hope things go well, I hope dad doesn't scare him off." Her father had about the same reaction as Goku.

Violet giggled, " I can't believe dad stopped dinner to talk about the birds and bees, Dad and Mom didn't tell me until after he found out I was having sex. He took my mattress and Tv away for about a month. "

"Oh so that was what that was about ...the mattress though?" Violet shook her head thinking back to it," I confessed that I had sex in the house once...so he burned my bed..." The teenager's face palmed as she just imagined what could possibly go wrong.

"...Jesus Christ...he's gonna scare him off." Pepper felt Violet rest her head on Pepper's shoulder. " Sweetie don't worry about daddy, he'll get over it. Just try to enjoy your date." She said whispering words of encouragement, Violet stayed for a few more hours with her sister trying to reassure her of her troubles.

After doing some quality sister bonding Pepper and Violet went their separate ways to their own individual bedrooms.

**TP**

* * *

Pepper was tucked nicely into her bed, deeply succumbed into her dreams. Her sleeping form was a very vulnerable state to be in especially with a lurking form beside her bed. The anonymous form locked his fingers into the locks of her hair, he was careful not to awake the teen caressing the dark locks. He couldn't count how many times he would sneak out into her room around after hours.

The girl didn't know how important she was to him, she was still too much of a child to realize, and too innocent to bear the weight of it.

The form snarled at the wait he would have to endure, those fools thought they could hide her behind his back while he was punished into a deep sleep. The memory of nothing once he started to stir he walked around clueless but then by a miracle he was awoken by item of his past.

And by chance, she found him, though she didn't recognize her own memories as she was different.

He ran his thumb across her forehead, a small smile graced his lips when he thought back to their earlier conversation and how she got joy out of his jealousy. She always did that in their former pass lives. "...Olvanii you will never change..."

Her nose twitches before she sneezed in her sleep, he withdrawals his hand when she fidgets around, he is relieved when she snuggled back into bed still sleeping as comfortable as before.

He manifested a bright light from his palm, slowly he raised his palm above her chest and fed the light into the girl.

One day this would come in handy when she would return home.

He leaned down to kiss her head good night, moving the hair from her face once again before taking his leave.

Very quietly he made his way back into the mirror.

* * *

**TP**

Pepper waved goodbye as she hopped into her dates car, her father had been somewhat 'decent' to boy taking her out on her first date. Pepper and the boy had small talk between them, she knew just the bare minimum about him because of his popularity, Annie commented that he was a jackass to girls like Pepper's type. She decides to be unbiased about his character and let the overall results of tonight be how she felt.

Pepper noticed he did lack certain chivalry skills but didn't count that off as being rude, she didn't find it all high maintenance, but her mother always told her to look out for it. Pepper excused herself to the bathroom while he got the movie tickets of his choice.

Pepper nervously ate five tic tac's for reassurance, she didn't want her breath to stray away from people around her. Pepper wore a long sleeve dark burgundy turtleneck dress that reaches mid-thigh, a pair of short black boots that had a slight heel. Her sister had to help her with the little makeup she had on the eyeliner and the dark red lipstick Violet let her borrow for this night. Violet had her hair in deep ripples, the crown of her head was in a low ponytail.

"Pepper Aviot you look fine, you fine, you find..." she repeated herself a couple more times before walked out the restroom.

Ramen stood by the entryway holding a Bucket of popcorn and two tickets in his hand, his brown eyes lighten when he caught Pepper walking in his direction.

"Oh um Pepper I got tickets to watch the new Grinch movie if that's alright with you." Pepper held an embedded groan when he almost misspoke her name, she forced a smile on her face, " Oh that's ok, I actually been wanting to see the new animated version. Oh um is popcorn all that you have?" He nodded as he took her hand, she was going to ask if there was a chance to get something different but said nothing as he led her to the movie showings.

Ramen chose a couple of seats away from the many people in the theatre, they had just made it in time for the last of previews. As the movie began she slowly feel his arm go over the headrest of her seat. She tried to focus on the movie in front of her and ignore the awkward presence of his arm.

Slowly she began to enjoy the movie, every now and then her and Ramen would chuckle at jokes and cute puns together, the anxiety she had eventually went and gone.

When the movie was over he had suggested that they get some ice cream by a Park that was lively at this time.

Pepper bit her lip, "Isn't that on the whole other side of town?" He shrugged carelessly, noting the hesitation in the girl he smirked," Don't tell me your afraid, do you have a curfew?" A light blush met her cheeks, she didn't want to seem like the little girl being afraid, she never did this before.

"N-No, I just never been out this late before alone...with a guy I mean." She lied to the older teen, she could hear her father screaming ten o'clock in her head as she agreed to tag along for another ride. When she sat in the car she did a quick glance at her phone, she chuckled nervously know she was cutting it close. It was fifteen till ten, the teenager tucked her phone into her jacket.

_Dad is gonna be pissed..._

During the whole ride, all she could think of was the expression on her father's face when walked into the house, but despite her worries, she kept a chill poker face on.

"So...is this your first date...?" Ramen asked breaking Pepper out of thoughts.

"Yeah, it act-"

"Oh look we're finally here!" He exclaimed Ramen parked the car on the side of the grass becoming getting out. Pepper narrowed her eyes at him, she couldn't get a word out with this man, it was becoming a trend with him, Pepper bit back the urge of rolling her eyes, when he cut her off in the conversation. She muttered beneath breath when she heard her date call her name, walking up to the ice cream stand she told the man in the stand that she wanted two scoops of her favorite ice cream, pistachio. She walked away from the stand as the next couple went up to the stand.

 _Pistachio is Annie's favorite too..._ She thought randomly she cleared her thoughts as she and Ramen began to walk down the trail that leads to the park nearby. Ramen again wrapped his arm around Pepper's shoulder, she forced a smile on her face to relax. He gave her a side wink as his arm slid down to her elbow, cringing inwardly Pepper tried to focus on her ice cream which was slowly beginning to dissipate because of her nervous eating. She tried to look around her surround and enjoy the nature around her, they were near the neck of the park, it was hard to see where exactly they were at because the trees the only sense of direction she had were the park signs that light up in the dark night. The soothing sound of crickets and frogs crossing made the night.

Unfortunately, it was ruined when Ramen began to tell a story which mainly centered around himself, but nonetheless she listened actively asking questions to try to stay interested in the teenager's life. She knows in some shape or forms this would only impress the girls he would talk to casually.

Pepper was starting to regret calling off the movie night with Annie, the charming vibe that Pepper thought he had was dying. She wanted to roll her eyes with the constant self-insert.

A lone picnic table surrounded by a tree in a perfect circle, the moonlight bathed down on the wooden table as if it was asking for attention. Wordlessly Pepper took Ramens's hand to the table to take a seat, "Let's sit here."

Without much of a no he sat next to Pepper, he sat there silently before talking again, "You know Pepper you're a very beautiful girl..."

Her cheeks glowed in redness.

"Aww thank you, Ramen...I was really nervous about this date but your company is really chill."

Ramen smirked, "You know we can be more than just chill, I know since this is your first date and all your not experience on what happens..." She blinked curiously not noting the tone of voice.

"Well, what usually happens in your dating experiences?"

His hand suddenly but subtitle gripped her thigh just below her dress. Peppers face went red in embarrassment having a brain fart on what to say, feeding off her quiet behavior, his hand continued to edge up under her dress.

He used his other hand to tilted her head in his direction.

"Well, it's better to show you baby..."

Pepper gently moved her head back when he started to reach in for a kiss but his hand kept her firmly in his grasp. Alarms were going of violently in her head.

"I-I don-" she started but Ramen's pair of lips came smashing onto hers.

She tried to push him off but his overall strength pushes Pepper back down on the table, Ramens hand pulling up her dress to grope her thigh. She started to panic at the turn of the events, Pepper bit his tongue making the teen pull away with a frown.

"Ugh, you bitch...did you just bite me.."

Pepper pushed him off,"Da'fuck does it look LIKE! GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!? " She landed two powerful punches on his left cheek.

Gathering herself she stumbled off the table as ran anywhere but here. She kept running aimlessly in the dark of the woods for any signs that they had passed earlier.

Finally, she came across a growling sign and stop to read the directions, she was discouraged by the written location.

" Shit how far off the trail did we go!" Pepper broke down into barrage of course words, she dug into her pocket for her phone to see if she could call someone for help.

When she was about to press the caller I.D. for her father she was knocked to the ground by Ramen, throwing her phone across the grass out of her hand. They both broke out into a scuffle on the ground, because did his larger form he managed to overpower Pepper. The older teenager growled, grabbing her wrist to pull her back down, she screamed for help while Ramen pinned her down on a vulnerable state with her stomach on the table, her back left unprotected.

Annoyed by her screaming and struggle to keep her still he punched the back of her head to shut her up. The sudden blow to the head made her lose strength as everything became incoherent. Tears started to form in her eyes as the throbbing was the only thing she could focus on.

"No your giving me something! You should be glad that a nice guy like me even took your weird-ass out." She held out an angry whimper when his hot-tempered hands began to pull down her underwear.

"The lady's always crying when it's time for this part...have says to your the only one who almost got away, you pack a hell of a punch..." she heard him say in a low gravelly volume.

Pepper had an internal struggle as her eyes reluctantly began to droop. A weak sob struggled to leave her lips when the sound of a zipper faintly reached her ears. Slowly her vision began to fade into darkness.

**Thump**

Pepper's eyes opened again when a startling sound made her regain little consciousness. Her eyes could only make out two shadowy figures fighting in the distance, one being Ramen and the other an unknown tall person. The taller person seemed to be winning, her mind could be playing tricks.

She could hear a loud feminine shriek from behind her, her body was zapped of energy to face whomever it was, she was forced to watch the taller figure knock Ramen out.

Finally, she let the struggle with her vision fade out.

* * *

**TP**

Pepper's coal colored eyes flickered open, to sound of a man's voice, it was faint but loud enough to wake her up. Pepper slowly sat up from the seat she was laying on, groaning at the pain on the back of her head.

"Oh sweetie you might not want to sit up so quickly.." she heard a woman's voice warn her.

Pepper turned to the woman beside her and recognized it from the scream from before, and also recognized that she was part of the couple that had gotten ice cream after her... She was a moderately tall sized woman that had a dark skin complexion, her bright green eyes soften I'm concerned as she pressed an ice pack on the back of her head," ...W-Where is he..."

She shook her head, " That guy is far gone, he can't hurt you anymore..." she whispered.

She grunted softly, relieved that she was far away from that psycho, Pepper closed her eyes when another wave of pain hit her, "...How did you find me out there?"

"Me and my fiance were sitting on the swings when heard you screaming, we came as fast as we could... my fiance tackled that guy who was attacking you...did he?" Pepper bitterly shook her head no, "I hope your boyfriend kicked his shit in..." She cursed under breath, it made the woman chuckle lightly. This was a major turn of events part of her wishes she didn't make fun of Goku and her father for being protective.

The woman handed her a napkin when black tears began to stream down her cheeks, ruining her mascara even more. Pepper sniffed as she wiped her tears away. Pepper turned to the woman with a light smile. "...I would like to thank your boyfriend if that's alright..." she whispered.

The woman nodded, gently leaving her hand on Pepper's shoulder before getting out of the car to get her boyfriend. The raven-haired teen leaned against the seat with soft sigh, she felt like shit.

Pepper's eyes followed the woman as he walked up to the man she heard talking, his back was turned to her direction. The woman and man exchanged a few words from the distance she couldn't make out the full conversation but did hear something about an ambulance.

Her ears twitched cautiously at the man's voice, had she heard it before?...

Slowly he turned around, his girlfriend pointing in her direction. The man quickly walked over to the car kneeling in front of the door, his face had stained blood splatter all over his shirt with obvious bruising from the tussle with Ramen. Despite the stains covering his concern face Her eyes squinted and locked onto the man facile characteristics. He had short blond hair and bright baby blue eyes with a harden haze over them but had softened with his guard down, Pepper knew in the back of her head what made him seem peculiar.

He cleared his throat before he spoke, "The police should be coming any second...as well as an ambulance... are you alright...?" Pepper's ears twitched in memory, and immediately had the name to match his face, her throat went dry as she tried to come up with words to speak without coming off as weird.

She wiped her face as she nodded, "... Yes, thanks to you..." he had barely heard her when she spoke it was so soft and low, he thought it was to do to with her delirious state and tragic night she had gone through.

Pepper Averted her eyes from staring directly into his blue ones, he surprisingly didn't recognize her but then again she shouldn't be surprised, it had nearly been six years ago and she had grown a lot.

"...your welcome, I promise that the bastard got him and probably worst when the cops come."

"...He was fine one second then completely changed his attitude like some psycho..." she muttered beneath her breath also with more curse words. "...he told me the 'girls always cry at this part'" she said mocking Ramen, " ...I definitely wasn't the only one he tried this on.." She said crossing her arms, she was lucky enough that he was here to save her.

"You should definitely tell the police that...oh i almost forgot.." he reached into his pockets and pulled out Pepper's phone that had dropped earlier when Ramen attacked her, "My girlfriend, Harmony, said this was yours..." Pepper shyly took her Phone back from examining its state, she tackled pretty roughly and doubt it didn't suffer some damage which unfortunately did. One single crack going across the phone but it was still operating correctly.

Her eyes flickered weakly, " Thank you both..."

He nodded awkwardly not know what to say to the less than an alright girl.

"By the way My name is King."

Pepper held her head with a nod, "I know..." she hissed in pain but continued to talk, " ... it's Kingston Aviot..."

Kingston's eyes had widened, he took a step back away from the girl surprised that she had known his full name, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. On the other hand, Pepper patted herself in the back, she corrects that the man was her brother after all.

"How did you know that?" he voice became low as he spoke to her.

Pepper and Kingston shared a very long stare into each other eyes, his eye's kept flickering to the confusion he didn't recognize her facile features at all, nor her voice. Her eyes softened it had been little over half a decade since she seen him, "You really don't...r-recognize me...?"

Kingston's eyebrows slightly narrowed, "...I never seen you in my life until today...but clearly you know me."

She didn't mean to but her eyes began to water, if only he knew that it was the little sister he just happened to save by chance.

Kingston panicked visually when he seen tears in her eyes, " Hey now it's okay, ..m-maybe if you just tell me your name then it will ring a bell in my memory... I happen to know a lot of people in my line of work so I might have gotten faces mix up.." he tried to coax the girl.

Pepper silently nodded, her brother watched her as she picked up her phone. Pepper chose a picture from her gallery, and gently gave it to Kingston you started to rebuttal, "I need your name, not a p-" he stopped talking once he looked at the picture.

Pepper had chosen a picture of her, her mother, and Violet wearing Christmas hats from earlier of last year, it was the most current picture she had with them three.

When his eyes looked back up he knew who she finally was, Kingston didn't speak. His hand went over to her face and wiped the dark streaks from her cheeks.

The memory of a younger version of themselves, when he snuck into her room to tell her 'goodbye'. Her tears came falling uncontrollably, her big brother had saved her, she thought with a sob.

Kingston brought his little sister into his arms as he cried, "Its okay Pepper I got you."

**TP**

* * *

**ONE WEEK LATER**

Pepper sat her room quietly snuggled up in blankets, after the exciting event that happened over a week ago, Ramen had unfortunately escaped before the Police arrived, Pepper's father ultimately took his daughters to experience very very seriously, he had kept Pepper locked up in the house, which meant no school or extracurricular activities. The police had a whole part of the city looking for Ramen, apparently, he was making a reputation of himself as a couple of girls had gone missing the past months.

Pepper was sure her father was going to pull her out of school for good which she was not happy with.

Annie poked Pepper in the cheek, "hey your frowning again..."

Oh and Annie was staying over, after avoiding Pepper and finding out of recent event Annie had been to her aid the instant she came over. She had been the only person to confide with about the details of that night, Pepper had closed up to everyone around her including her father and Goku. Her father was going through an emotional rollercoaster worst than Pepper, Annie was the only one that didn't ask questions she just tried to remove that part of her life away and focus on making her happy.

"I know... I was just thinking about stuff..." Pepper said quietly. Annie glance from the tv to the raven-haired girl next to her, she knew something was making Peppers mood." you wanna talk about it?"

Pepper rested her head back into Annie's lap, "...it's about my brother?" It was the one thing she hadn't talked about, her older brother that somehow by a miracle save her from being raped and possibly killed. It was in the police report and to her father's knowledge that Kingston had saved her, Archie had quietly told her in private not to mention it to her mother and Violet. He said it so emotionlessly, she could tell that he had words he wanted to say but held his tongue.

Annie gently ran her fingers through Pepper's hair, "What about him Pepper?"

"He was the guy that saved me from Ramen when he was attacking me, my brother saved me." Annie gasped from above, she tilted her head so she could Peppers face, " He SAVED YOU!?"

Pepper covered her mouth, shushing her,"My mom and sister don't know, they will probably freak if they hear us." She warned Annie moving her hands," ...He was there with his girlfriend at the park, King didn't recognize me at all...but when he did he hugged me... I just got this feeling ever sense that ..."

"Good or a bad feeling?" Annie gently stroked her hair, she always knew how to calm her. Pepper never outright shows her distressing mood it was always an internal war, it had to be an extreme event to make her physically expose herself.

"Like he missed me...but couldn't be around me. A forbidden burden if you may. I believe it has something to deal with my dad worrying about him being a threat to the and Dad shared words which met in the middle ground, he thanked him while also the threatening to stay away."

"Why would your dad do that?" Archie threatening someone sounded out of character, Peppers father was a nice and overall chill kind of guy. "Did your brother do something bad?"

Pepper shrugged her shoulders, " Probably, but I sure as hell wouldn't know. The family makes it their top priority to keep certain stuff away from me. When my brother first left I was eight so of course I wouldn't comprehend whatever the situation was back then, I tried asking now but Mom and Dad always shut me down." Pepper pursed her lips, "They want to protect me, but sometimes they just end up hindering me, and it doesn't help with the whole Ramen situation. Does your dad ever overprotect you?"

Annie's eyes softened with a weak nodded, " Yeah..." she said not really going into detail at first. She suddenly grabbed a remote to pause the movie that they were watching. Pepper had a questioning look.

"U-Um I need to tell you something Pepper, could you sit up for me please.." her voice was nervous all a sudden.

Pepper did as she asked, they were both facing each other directly. Annie nervously bit her lip, telling Pepper she was uncomfortable with what she had to say.

"I'm sorry for avoiding you for the past week, I know you haven't said anything about but I know how much you look up to our time altogether. I have a good excuse.." Pepper nodded, "Oh ok..."

"I didn't tell you that I ran into my old 'friends' from the other school I went to, the one religious one." She did air quotation marks emphasizing that they were not the friendliest.

"They had gotten transferred to our school, and started to spread a few rumors around the school."

Pepper frowned, " Rumours? I haven't heard anything!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, very personal ones because they are true. I wasn't sure if you had heard them, so I avoided you..." Annie pushed her hair away from her ear, "and I shouldn't have done that."

Pepper exhaled angrily, " You're Damn right! What gave you the idea that I would be a gossip girl anyway if anything I would have slapped the first bitch who said anything about you. "

" I know I know Pep, I was just afraid that you would look at me differently, your the only real friend that I can confide in about anything and feel safe, and you don't give me half-ass advice, your cut-throat sometimes but it's only at of love cause you're a loving person. You're the only best friend that i loved so much." She looked away to hide her blush, " I didn't want to lose you and I could have after what happened to you, I just felt so horrible that I avoided you instead of talking to you."

Annie felt Pepper knock on her forehead, "Do you hear yourself, Annie, there's no Damn rumor in the world that would ever change how I act around you, hell I won't believe it unless I talk to you first anyway."

Annie shyly looked up at Pepper, "Do you wanna know?"

"Only if your comfortable Annie, I don't wanna force to tell me."

Annie looked down between her lap as she thought about it, her thumbs playing with the stings of her shorts. Took a deep breath, her face turned into a determined one, "I need to get it off my chest." Annie took Pepper's hands into her own, "I like girls." She blurted quickly.

Pepper blinked surprised, she wasn't expecting that.

"Oh...was that all you were worried about."

"W-Well yeah...your not freaked out by it?" She asked nervously.

Pepper smiled brightly, "Hell no. Just because your gay doesn't make me feel any different about you, you're my Fucking best friend."Right after Pepper got done talking Annie enveloped Pepper into a hug making the both of them fall over, unsheathed tears, and a chester smile had overcome her face,"Thank you! Thank you! I was so afraid that was gonna lose you..." The raven-haired teenager hugged her best friend back tightly.

After a while they go back to watching the movie, with tension gone from the room, the raven-haired teen was glad that she could get that cleared from her conscience.

"You know this whole time I thought you were avoiding me because I blew off our movie night for that ass hole..."Pepper said laying her head back onto Annie's lap.

The rose gold haired teen's hand froze when Pepper suddenly said that, a slight blush crept on her cheeks, "... why did you think that? " Pepper not aware of the blush on Annie's cheeks, "well it was our night and I went on and wasted on Ramen, all I could think of was you whole time anyway."

Annie shyly smiled down at Pepper, her heartbeat increasing, "Aww aren't you sweet~"

Pepper pursed her lips,"I would have rather been on a date with you Annie, I would have had more fun with your company." Annie chuckled as she knew how horrible of a date she had, "Ya think so?"

Pepper nodded vigorously, "Hell yeah."

The teenager had given Pepper a loving and soft smile, "I think so too.."

* * *

Later that night when the household was asleep, a suspect figure slipped from behind the room divider. As always he was careful to not make a sound, he walked beside the her that had both girls cuddle up. He raised a brow at Pepper's wild sleeping position, the front half of her body was hanging off the bed. The figure shook his head as he went and propped the girl back on the next to Annie. He gives her a small kiss on the head before exiting through Pepper's bedroom window.

For the first time he would be in the outside world his Olvanii lived in, but this was not an exploration sadly this was a quick errand that had to be felt with.

He was a quiet silhouette in the dark night sky flying over the buildings as he searched, he scowled at the atmosphere around him when he landed on an abandoned building at his destination. It was safe to say that this was the shady part of the city, there were a few old houses and old cleared out cooperated buildings like the one he had chosen. He turns to the door that leads to the inside of the building, a bright ball of light manifested in front of him as walked, the energy severed as a flashlight.

He began to whistle a random lullaby when the sound of whimpering became apparent to ears as he walked to an abandoned room. He usually didn't enjoy the screams of his enemies but to hear them from his victims was a beauty, especially this one in particularity.

Opening the door to his victim's inevitable death revealed the man who was the topic of the city, Ramen.

The boy sat in tied to a metal chair in the middle of the vacant room, he was covered in sweat and blood, his left leg broken while the right was heavily mutilated as part of the limb was tore off with a pair of hands.

His eyes widen in fear when he walked into the room, trying helplessly to escape, the man chuckled at his attempt, whatever dream he thought of escaping would die today. The taller figure squatted down to boys levels a crazed grin stretching across his face.

Ramen whimpered when his torturer slowly began to dig his index finger into his ribs, the energy surrounding his finder slowly melting away the tissue. His whimpers increased its volume turning into blood-curdling screams, his teeth bit down the rope so hard that his gums began to bleed.

Ramen choked on a sob as the man finger soon came in touch with his bone, he dug just enough to break the rib before pulling away. Blood oozed from his torso, and onto the floor, the boy breathing became labored with the amount he was losing. Noticing this the figure moved on the next before he had the chance to slip into death.

"Oh don't die on me just yet, you have to 'see' where you went wrong." Ramen fatigued mind didn't catch on to the play on words until the man held another orb of light in front of his right eye.

Before he had the chance to speak out a plea his eye was met with hot energy.

He could only think about his Olvanii as he liquidated Ramens eyeballs, his screams unaffected the man as he was thinking back to the one person that he cared about.

The teens were unaware of the pair of ears that were listening to their whole conversation, a pair of violently blue eyes always glowing from the mirror, and he was not pleased with recent events.

He frowned that she had not come to him first, he had to hear it just by chance when her friend came to help her get over the situation by talking and talking never any action. He took it upon himself to avenge his Olvanii the right way, she might not appreciate it now but when she is awakened to her true self that is when he would receive thanks.

The man sighed loudly when he realized Ramen had died during his thought process, he backed away from his mutilated workpiece, "This will have to do, the message will be clear for anyone who dares try to hurt Olvanii."

He separated the limbs and placed them into a bag, he then took flight over the city, once he got to his desired place he began to toss the limbs randomly from the sky.

He chuckled when a loud shriek abrupt from down below, he smirked proudly when he got to the head, the eyes sockets were left vacant, the residue of what was his eyes was runny like eggs, the skin caked with dried blood and sweat. "Olvanii should have taken my advice to avoid getting hurt but much as lessons are needed but not wanted." He tosses the head without much of thought soon the sound of sirens makes him leave back to the mirror.


End file.
